Employment Support Services (ESS) are “individualized” services that help individuals acquire and maintain paid employment in their community. ESS occurs in integrated community settings. ESS is provided under BI, CAC, CADI, or DD waiver services.
Employment Support Services that require direct contact with the person include:
- Job analysis
- Job re-design
- Coaching and supporting acceptable workplace self-care, proper dress, personal hygiene, and grooming
- Job training and coaching to strengthen and maintain necessary work skills, behaviors, and coworker relationships
- Job-related counseling and support, including help understanding earned wages and impact on benefits
- Training and coaching the person on job-related transportation
- Progress review and reporting meetings
- In-service transportation.
Employment Support Services that do not require direct contact with the person include:
- Arrangement for adaptive accommodations (e.g., modified work tasks or responsibilities, flexible schedules, telecommuting, etc.)
- Arrangement for assistive technology (e.g., ergonomic workstations, magnifiers, speech-to-text or text-to-speech software, captioning, audio or visual cueing, etc.)
- Advocacy, negotiation, and liaison communication with the employer
- Development and strengthening of natural work supports
- Research and coordination for job-related transportation
- Working with the employer to design and implement set schedules for ongoing follow-up support, job coach sharing, fading out, and monitoring
- Formation of skilled, job-specific work crews and job enclaves for group employment support service arrangements
- Data collection, documentation, and progress reports on a person’s work performance
- Benefit(s) fact gathering, review, and analysis to determine how a change in circumstances will affect benefits.
Self-employment and microenterprise business support services that require direct contact with the person include:
- Training, coaching, and support services for helping with effective day-to-day operations of all aspects of the business (i.e., marketing, sales, production, order fulfillment, customer service, business technology, bookkeeping, file record maintenance, purchasing, inventory control, financial management, accounting, timely tax reporting, and legal compliance)
- Help identify other needed external business resources and services to assist with the continued development and support of the business enterprise.
- Ongoing analysis and consultation to identify needed support
- Design and implementation of set schedules for ongoing follow-up support
- Business-related counseling and support, including help understanding earned wages and impact on benefits
Self-employment and microenterprise business support services that do not require direct contact with the person include:
- Benefit fact gathering, review, and analysis to determine how a change in a person’s circumstances will affect their benefits.
For more information about EES, including eligibility, please visit the MN Department of Human Services website or contact your county case manager.
