The Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services:
A Model for Empowerment and Service Delivery
Audrey L. McCrimon
Director
Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services
Abstract
Extensive ethnic variety exists among Illinois' 11 million population. Correspondingly, cultural variety exists both in the population at-large as well as in the nine percent plus of this citizenry with disabilities. As Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Services, the author presents the department's organizational set-up and principles as a possible paradigm for achieving the goals of leadership development in the areas of disability. The departmental principles are embodied in five "visions" on an empirical basis, i.e. one adapting in each case the appropriate vision(s) to the cultural and other traits of the individual being brought forward for leadership positions. This methodology of focussing on the individual's complexity of traits is also employed in the case of recipients of the general departmental rehabilitative services.
Introduction
The Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) is Illinois' leading agency for serving people with disabilities. Organizationally, there are four bureaus - The Bureaus of Rehabilitation Services, Blind Services, Disability Determination Services, and Finance and Operations. The agency employs more than 2,200 employees in 54 field offices and four educational facilities around the state. DORS focuses on assisting people with disabilities in the areas of education, advocacy, employment, and independence. The agency has five visions for the 1990's. They are:
Employment: The employment rate for persons with disabilities should be the same as for all Illinois citizens.
Technology: People with disabilities must have access to technology that enables them to live healthy independent lives.
Service Delivery: People with disabilities and their families will be fully informed about options, have access to a variety of essential support services, and directly influence the future of their communities, including the development and operation of service delivery systems.
Vocational Education and Training: People with disabilities will be prepared, through schools, vocational training, and retraining programs, for jobs that complement their abilities and interests, and to meet the demands of the labor market.
Timely Intervention: Integrated and coordinated community based support services offering choices to people and their families will be available at the onset of a disability, regardless of age.
There are approximately 11 million people who reside in the state of Illinois. More than one million of those individuals have some sort of disabling condition. Illinois, its geography, and its population, are all equally diverse. The state goes from the packed innercity to isolated rural America. Illinois is home to the world's largest and busiest airport in Chicago; some of the world's richest farmland is in central Illinois, towering river bluffs, and the Shawnee National Forest are in Southern Illinois. Illinois' citizenry is as varied as its geography. Chicago, the largest population center, has large African American and Hispanic American populations. There are also enclaves of citizens of Polish, Vietnamese, and Middle Eastern descent. Central Illinois has large contingents of German and Dutch descendants, and Southern Illinois has many individuals of French ancestry who are descendants of early French explorers.
Given the state's diversity, and consequently the diversity of those who come to DORS for services, we have made an effort within the agency to assemble a staff that not only ethnically represents such diversity, but understands and respects it as well. Our 1991 statewide conference was entitled: "Changing Faces: Understanding Diversity." Attending as keynote speaker was activist Julian Bond. To keep up the momentum gained by that meeting we held a similar conference, via satellite, the following year. The second conference devoted time to expanding on the issues discussed in the first.
We set about putting our words into action by expanding the number of persons from minority groups among the agency's ranks. We went from 8% of all hires being African American in 1991, to 30% being African American in 1992. At the same time, the number of people with disabilities who were hired rose from a representative 16% in 1991 to 27% in 1992. We have also developed student intern and summer work programs that focus on hiring students with or without disabilities from minority populations. We have played an intricate part in publicizing the latest amendment to the State's Minority and Female Business Enterprise Act (MAFBE). While MAFBE specifies that certain percentages of state contracts be awarded to women and persons from minority groups, the newest amendment requires that 2 1/2% of contracts awarded, go to businesses owned by people with disabilities. We have taken that information - along with a road show on how to qualify - to people with disabilities throughout Illinois.
One of the items I was asked to discuss today was what my role as director entailed and how it intertwined with the subject of the conference. I think that in regard to persons from minority groups, my role as director is to provide top level commitment to valuing all racial and ethnic groups, while identifying and responding appropriately to gaps that may exist. The best way to do that is to address the gaps as they come before you, give directives for change, keep an eye on progress, and acknowledge achievements. This is not to say that once a directive for increased inclusion is given it happens overnight - change takes time - but if you keep a watchful eye and let people know you are aware of their achievements in that direction, changes will begin to take place by themselves.
When one begins to work on making "inclusion" part of an organization's vocabulary, it is important that actions be both internally and externally visible. If you are going to improve services to a minority population, it is important to have on staff counselors and representatives that can understand the culture intrinsic to those you wish to serve. If this is an impossibility, one quick way to achieve input is through the development and use of advisory councils. Not the "let's put them on a board so they can feel included but we won't ask them anything anyway" kind of board, but a real working advisory group made up of people involved in the communities in which you are interested. If you invite impacted groups to work with you, they can offer invaluable suggestions, information, and feedback. Not all of it may be pretty, but it can be extremely useful. It is also important to remember that you are not an instant expert just because of your own minority status. For example, as an African American woman with disabilities who is active in community organizations, I feel comfortable that I can address issues relative to women, African Americans, and people with disabilities. I do not, however, presume to have a strong grasp of those issues specific to agency staff or consumers who are Native American or Hispanic American.
Beyond making sure that dialogue exists between groups - be it minority to minority or majority to minority - it is important, especially in the upper ranks of administration, to be visible and accessible to the people who work for you and the people that you serve. One must attend events or occasions sponsored by consumer groups or people with whom you wish to develop better relationships. The visibility, the good will, and the networking that evolves from attending community organization events is well worth the time spent. People remember when an administrator takes time out for them. That remembrance helps pave the way for good future interactions and may help soften the effect of bad ones.
In addition to forming relationships with groups and staff, the position of director allows me the unique opportunity to serve as a mentor both within and outside the agency. Internally, I have had the pleasure of watching a strong sense of advocacy flourish among the deputy directors and executive staff with whom I work and rely upon daily. When I took the job as director, I was immediately impressed that the staff I inherited was top notch in regard to process and professionalism. Too often, however, process gets in the way of advocacy. By including these and other staff members in the activities of community groups and by having them attend events with me or in my stead, I am able to say that they now regard themselves as professional advocates as well as professional government employees. External mentoring can also take place through internship programs. For example: we hired a recent graduate of our Illinois School for the Deaf, a residential program for deaf and hard of hearing youth. She came to us as an intern in our in-home care programs unit. "Poppy," our student, came to us for practical work experience after graduation. When we hired her she said her goal was to "get a job with the state as a secretary or something." We placed Poppy in our home services unit and, while telling her the secretarial field was certainly a worthy one, we began encouraging her to think about college and other opportunities. We exposed her to other professional African American women in the agency and to other professionals with disabilities. While Poppy did clerical work in her job with us, we made sure she had other experiences while on the job. Six months after she came to work with us, I am proud to tell you she is gone. She is a freshman at Gallaudet University considering a major in Education. A far and beautiful cry from "a secretary with the state or something."
In closing, I would like to say that the key to commitment from the top down is weaving that group into whatever the institution's fabric may be; this is the case with inclusion of any minority group. There are no "special" practices needed, simply equal ones. Only through participation and inclusion can anyone or any group play a meaningful role both in society and within the scope of an organization. And, as was the case with those before us, it is up to us as professionals and as persons from minority groups to make room and set examples for those who follow.
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Page last updated on March, 1997 by Mary Kaye Rubin