Hiring the Mentally Challenged to Improve Staffing - Halcyon House Retirement Community, Washington, Iowa

Nursing Homes, April, 2000 by Nancy Pine

Long-term care facilities continue to have difficulties finding and retaining dedicated employees. Halcyon House Retirement Community in Washington, Iowa, is addressing this issue by collaborating with area agencies to provide volunteer and employment opportunities for disabled individuals.

Halcyon has benefited by reducing staff turnover while gaining dedicated and reliable employees. Also, the CCRC's residents have developed special relationships with their new friends. Additionally, these special employees are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the community.

"I've been in this industry for eight years now, and I've never seen anyone so thankful to receive a paycheck," says Brett DeWolf, environmental services supervisor, who organized the program at Halcyon. DeWolf is very familiar with this special population, having grown up with his older brother Doug who is mentally challenged. "I've been around this population all my life," he says. "I was aware of their abilities and knew they would make good employees."

DeWolf admits that when he first began working at Halcyon House he really didn't think about the possibility of hiring physically and mentally challenged employees. However, after he became familiar with the difficult task of hiring, training and retaining staff, he started looking at programs that were available. "Because of the high burnout rate," says DeWolf, "a person who has the ability to go on to a higher functioning type of job with advanceable skills won't stay in an entry-level position, per se." DeWolf and other supervisors began working with WCDC, Inc., Advanced Employment Services and the area's education agencies. These agencies share a common goal of helping individuals with disabilities obtain gainful, competitive employment so that they can work without government assistance.

"I knew several individuals who worked in the community as team members of janitorial crews," says DeWolf, "and I worked on hiring them and brought them in." His first employee through these programs was contracted through WCDC, Inc., in 1996. He performed so well that DeWolf brought him in as a Halcyon team member. Randy still works at Halcyon and has since been able to buy his own house, get his driver's license and buy his own car.

Matching the employee's abilities to the position is crucial, says DeWolf. Halcyon and the agencies study the job responsibilities and differentiate the functions that might require technical skills from those requiring skills that are easily managed. One way to separate the professional job tasks that require certification or advanced training from those that don't is through job "carving." The individuals with disabilities perform the tasks that don't require special training, and the professional staff can focus on their own work.

An "enclave" is a group of individuals hired by Halcyon to complete specified tasks. The contracted employees can be hired at substandard minimum wage. They are then paid according to their productivity, using the "supported employment subminimum wage certificate." Halcyon pays the agency, which provides a job coach to supervise the employees and ensure that the contract and the job duties are performed properly.

"I was having trouble staffing the laundry department," says DeWolf, "and, in mid-1997, I talked to WCDC about having an 'enclave' in the laundry room to do our laundry services. That has been the best move we've made. It took a little work and effort, but I have employees who are showing up to work and are grateful to have a job, and they enjoy it. The goal of the employees is to rise above a substandard minimum wage. Our goal is for them to actually do the laundry, operate the machines and do all of the sorting and delivery without the assistance of the job coach."

A total of 14 to 16 disabled individuals work or volunteer in Halcyon's seven departments. "For example, in the nursing department they do all of the snack and water functions," says DeWolf, "and they set up all of the washrags and hand towels for each resident." This allows the nurses more time to care for the residents. The opportunity hit close to home: DeWolf's brother Doug, 38, has recently started working for Halcyon as a contracted employee in the nursing department mobile work crew.

DeWolf explains that the mentally challenged employees are not simply doled out the tasks that none of the other staff want to do. "We work hard for them to be treated as fairly as anyone else," he says. "All team members or supervisors make sure that they are treated with equal respect.

The Halcyon staff weren't always so accepting of their new team members. "It took the staff a little while to get used to the new concept," says DeWolf. "There wasn't really any trouble at first, but I don't think they thought that [the disabled employees] had the skills or ability to do the program and the job. Since then they've become very accepting. They even look for things for them to do. They find something that will free up their time so they can take better care of the residents."