Grant Opportunity Announcement: Customized Employment Initiative

The application period for this grant opportunity has closed.

To fund one grantee up to $350,000 per year for four years ($1,400,000 total, subject to availability of funding) to identify and eliminate gaps in Customized Employment (CE) services across New York State. The goal of the grant project is to increase and sustain employment for people with developmental disabilities (DD). The grantee will work with providers of customized employment services for people with DD to effectively develop appropriate employment opportunities for them.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) defines competitive integrated employment (CIE) as work that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis for which an individual is:

compensated at or above minimum wage and comparable to the customary rate paid by the employer to employees without disabilities performing similar duties and with similar training and experience; receiving the same level of benefits provided to other employees without disabilities in similar positions; at a location where the employee interacts with other individuals without disabilities; and is presented opportunities for advancement similar to other employees without disabilities in similar positions. 

Customized employment (CE) is a process for achieving competitive integrated employment through an employee and employer relationship that is personalized to meet the needs of both. It is a universal strategy that benefits many people, including people with disabilities who might not have found success through traditional employment strategies. In 2014, CE was included in Title IV of WIOA as a strategy under the definition of supported employment. 

In 2024, Governor Hochul signed Executive Order 40 making New York an Employment First state, a national movement that prioritizes competitive integrated employment as the first and preferred option for people served by the state’s disability public health system – even for those with the most significant disabilities. While the data suggests slight increases in employment of people with disabilities over the past ten years to a record high in 2025, people with DD continue to lag behind their working-aged peers without disabilities in terms of hours worked, wages earned, and unemployment and under-employment rates nationally and in New York State. Employment First (E1st NY).

In addition, there are gaps in the delivery of employment services, and the fact remains that many business cultures and work environments are not as welcoming to workers with disabilities as they need to be. For this reason, attention to both repairing and bolstering CE at the provider and business level is needed. Making the work environment supportive and inclusive for people with DD will improve morale for everyone, given a stable and engaged workforce, for a positive effect on the bottom line. 

Approach:

The Customized Employment Initiative is a systems-level effort focused on supporting implementation, improving coordination, and strengthening consistency across partners. Grantee efforts will include activities such as offering start-up technical assistance, cross-agency coordination, and peer-learning, ongoing implementation supports, and tools that help translate training into practice. The initiative will focus on strengthening the delivery of CE services, with attention to both repairing and bolstering CE at the provider and business levels. 

The CDD will select one (1) grantee through a competitive RFP to implement a project focused on CE, involving a two-pronged approach to be carried out simultaneously. 

The first prong will assess how thoroughly the principles of CE are upheld across CE service providers. The second prong will assess the culture at both provider agencies and partner businesses. Both prongs are charged with maintaining fidelity to the core principles of CE, such as those outlined by Marc Gold and Associates https://www.marcgold.com/what-is-customized-employment, and Griffin Hammis Customized Employment, to name two of several credentialing entities. The successful applicant will describe utilizing available tools, for example, through the National Customized Employment Fidelity Center https://www.ncefc.org/ and/or the development of new tools, to gain a clear understanding of challenges and opportunities for improved CE service delivery across New York State.

In both prongs, the grantee will work closely with the CDD’s established CE Initiative Advisory Committee comprised of pre-selected state agency advisors responsible for the oversight of CE services, including representatives from the Governor’s Office of the Chief Disability Officer, Department of Labor, Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Adult Career and Continuing Education Services – Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR) through the NYS Education Department, and the NYS Commission for the Blind, of the Office of Children and Family Services. The Advisory Committee will support the grantee in a variety of ways. For example, the Advisory Committee will assist the grantee to identify “fidelity-based high-performing” providers, some of whom may have capacity to become mentors to engage in training opportunities with underperformers to drive forward the mission of increasing competitive integrated employment for people with DD as outlined in New York’s Employment First literature.

First Prong 

The goal of assessing the current landscape is to identify the gaps preventing conformity to the principles of CE and to determine practical ways of improving and developing consistent practices related to CE service delivery and provider agency infrastructure. The Advisory Committee will identify a selected subset of providers already offering CE services to participate in the technical assistance efforts of the successful grantee.  The Advisory Committee will offer the selected applicant recommendations on areas of needed technical assistance and capacity building for participating providers.  The selected grantee will have the discretion to decide which areas of these technical assistance needs they would like to prioritize and in what order.  Using fidelity scales (existing or newly created), along with other tools and strategies to ensure fidelity to CE principles and best practices to address gaps, the grantee will determine an efficient path to meet providers’ needs under the guidance of the Advisory Committee. 

The successful applicant must:

• Have an intimate and in-depth knowledge of CE service delivery and/or be a current, approved CE service provider
• Have existing relationships as well as the ability to cultivate new relationships with other CE and related employment service providers
• Have the ability to successfully train agency staff with varying abilities and knowledge on CE and related employment services’ best practices at an intermediate level at minimum
• Propose viable subcontracts to fulfil needs where the applying entity lacks expertise or capacity

The applicant will identify a plan to meet the needs identified in the initial fidelity assessment by proposing the development of trainings and technical assistance resources that will meet identified needs. At minimum, all aspects of CE service delivery should be reviewed, and target areas of TA should be identified based on a proposed prioritization strategy. Many excellent resources are available to utilize, but there may be reasons for gaps that are particular to regional areas of New York State, and the grantee must be sensitive to cultural nuances that may exist and may be influencing the way CE services and supports are successfully implemented. The prospective grantee should be prepared to develop new resources and training to offer targeted technical assistance for such particular needs. All services provided under this grant must be offered at no charge to participants.  No services rendered through this grant initiative are reimbursable through any federal funding streams.

Action Plan for the First Prong:

The grantee will, through comprehensive assessment, identify specific areas for improvement within a pre-selected subset of CE service providers, and ensure CE is a core service and not just an add-on service. Add-on services rarely get the full attention of all staff whereas a core service is understood by all to be critical to operations, involving higher-level cross-training and regular cross-departmental communication. The grantee will offer individualized intermediate-level training and other technical assistance to providers based on results of the needs assessment. As the path forward is clarified, the grantee may utilize “fidelity-based high-performing” providers to assist with modeling and training in the field, among other successful strategies and techniques in the research from successes in other states.

Throughout the needs assessment process, the grantee may identify systems-level changes that would improve CE service delivery across all providers.  The grantee should feel empowered to document and relay these recommendations to the CE Initiative’s Advisory Committee.  The CE Initiative Advisory Committee is available to the grantee for guidance, and the grantee can rely on their support to pave the way to implement changes and may refer systemic problems to the committee that may be out of providers’ control. The grantee may offer systems level recommendations to the Advisory Committee and associated State Oversight Agencies to define items like participant volume and staffing models that are operationally realistic, to specify CE deliverables and outcomes, to align procurement rates with CE requirements, to request that rates be tied to milestones, and to request a braiding guide for CE cases to be developed to use where appropriate. It is likely that in some cases, recommendations may include new staffing structures with accurate job descriptions highlighting skills for CE specifically, that will support staff retention, with adjusted performance plans to be aligned accordingly to drive a necessary cultural shift. Additionally, cross-program alignment and messaging should be implemented widely, which will likely require assistance from the Advisory Committee.  

Second Prong

The second prong will assess the culture at both CE provider agencies and partner businesses utilizing a fidelity tool as one element to assess cultural embeddedness of CE.

Cultural Assessment of a CE Service Provider:

Provider agency CE culture must include deep Customized Employment Discovery processes and training. Advisory Committee members will guide the grantee through the nuances of each State Oversight Agency’s implementation of CE services so a comprehensive assessment can be tailored for purposes of raising the bar on the existing mechanisms of service delivery to determine a consistency across providers. 

The grantee will make recommendations to the CE service provider’s leadership for improvements to CE service provision (compliance) and monitor for positive change in the culture. Provider agency leadership and management must engage in the provision of customized employment to fidelity and fully buy-in to make CE an integral core service. Further, management will support the development of staff through a developing Community of Practice which will strengthen the ability to adhere to state agency expectations and standards for CE service provision.

Cultural Assessment of a Business Partner:

There are several aspects a cultural assessment for businesses must take into account: assessing how attentively a relatively new business partner is onboarding an employee with DD, how well the culture of a relatively new business partner is adapting to the inclusion of employees with DD, and how the process is going for the employee or prospective employee. Well established business partners will not need as thorough an assessment as a newer business, given their experience, especially when they partner with a “fidelity-based high-performing” provider of CE services. 

Business culture will be assessed for identifying gaps in operational productivity, customer service and output, and then the process they engaged in identifying ways that the business creates a new position, or how they identify tasks that can be reassigned from another role so the business can still meet its needs while allowing employees to focus on their strengths. The assessment will focus on the success of the relationship for both the business and the prospective employee with DD by offering direct support for businesses on how to optimally tailor opportunities for job seekers. In addition to the job negotiation stage between an employer and a job seeker who is eventually hired into a job at a business, this assessment will involve brief but ongoing check-in discussions with the team (including the job coach, employment specialist, job developer, front-line manager, and HR professionals and front-line supervisors from the business) as time goes on, to support the business to mitigate any concerns about changing employee needs and any new accommodations that may be needed for additional employee responsibilities as they grow with the business.

The successful applicant must demonstrate skill in nurturing new and established business relationships within the partnerships to design effective training that can include willing business partners. The prospective grantee will focus on developing a training component regarding implementing CE with attention to eliminating obstacles and barriers from a cultural standpoint and identifying ways to strengthen the work environment and culture at both provider and business entities so common problems implementing CE will vanish. Businesses will also gain assistance where needed to improve human resource policies regarding hiring people with disabilities.

Once business partners are engaged in employing workers with DD, service provider can work with business leadership to strengthen aspects of the work environment to help with small but meaningful cultural changes as one important aspect of the business’s diversity program. The focus will be on supporting business engagement, meeting business needs and assisting where they need support.

Action Plan for the Second Prong: 

Utilizing a comprehensive fidelity scale if one exists to assess culture, and/or designing one to implement quickly for both providers and businesses to assess cultural awareness and identify gaps that lead to a failure in communication that ultimately hurt workers with DD will be a key deliverable. 

The successful grantee will analyze results from the assessment process and consult with the Advisory Committee to efficiently engage service provider leadership and management at provider agencies to inform next steps in their growth plan, that will in turn point to actions that will better serve a business partner to support workers with DD.

An intermediate-level training curriculum for provider staff is needed to support a comprehensive approach to CE prioritized as a core service. A successful grantee will detail how they will develop a CE Culture Building Process with participant provider organizations who have received basic training previously. Cultural building will need to encompass leadership education with checks for understanding, review of job structure and descriptions for staff implementing CE with specific skills needed, and development of internal procedures to document CE practices. Building from OPWDD basic training in Eleversity and other tools available, the grantee will recommend design improvements to existing tools and processes, and will need to design new tools, including tracking systems related to CE fidelity and outcomes, and will model and move toward institutionalizing successful strategies to build better relationships with business partners. It will be important to consider ways of celebrating and promoting success consistently, and to gauge growth at milestones. A comprehensive application will detail a plan to meet these expectations for success during the grant term and for sustainability beyond the grant term. 

Once the grant is operational, it will be important for the winning applicant to look at capacity within participating businesses to examine ways to best support workers with DD on the job, and to ensure the entire company grows into a cultural awareness of people with DD. The prospective grantee will assess and monitor business partners’ voluntary assessment results to inform next steps, strategies, and ongoing training needs, from a provider’s first interaction with a business to assisting them to fulfill responsibilities to their workers with DD.

Expected Key Deliverables:

Key Deliverables include the establishment of a comprehensive assessment plan and individualized training program for providers of customized employment services, targeting specific gaps among groupings of providers, with managers and leaders joining front-line staff in training, from each agency. 

A Culture Building component will address the problems that may be driving non-compliance within providers (and by extension, affecting service to business partners). In addition, implementation of a business outreach and liaison program to expand readiness for NY businesses to hire and maintain employment of people with DD is expected to develop and be utilized as part of the field training for staff of a selected subset of agencies that will expand with results each year. 

Convening of an established Customized Employment Advisory Committee comprised of state agency advisors pre-selected by the CDD, including representation from the Governor’s Office of the Chief Disability Officer, The Department of Labor, Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), Adult Career and Continuing Education Services – Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR), and the New York State Commission for the Blind, Office of Children and Family Services is expected regularly throughout the grant term. Please note, a prospective applicant can propose additional advisory committee members, but the above-listed agencies will put forward at least one advisory committee member who will serve as a required member for the duration of the grant. The above-listed representatives specialize in oversight of CE within their agencies and will assist the grantee to define challenges, help pave the way to implement strategies to resolve specific issues, provide recommendations for agencies in need of technical support, and recommend ways to strengthen CE services in New York State. The successful grantee will use the recommendations of the Advisory Committee to implement the CE technical assistance program, and will utilize their expertise for the establishment of a Community of Practice for Employment Specialists, Job Developers, Business, and others involved in CE.

As part of the commitment to sustainability, the grantee will identify strategies and training methodology that proved successful in eliminating gaps in service, culminating in a winning partnership  with businesses to address specific gaps, to compile into a shareable guide that will be made available at no cost to providers, the Advisory Committee members and their networks, and CDD, plus the broader network of practitioners, showcasing the work done in New York, to continue the work after the grant ends. This guide will help maintain adherence to consistently high standards for CE service provision and state agency expectations, making a shift to exceed minimum compliance standards, striving for excellence.

Desired Project Outcomes:

The intended outcomes of this grant opportunity include:

• Increased competitive integrated employment through strengthened customized employment and a resulting increase in job retention for people with DD across New York State.
• Increased worker satisfaction gaining and practicing skills at businesses that have taken steps to strengthen their culture to support employment for people with DD.
• Increased fidelity for CE service providers to ensure improved employment outcomes for job seekers with DD.
• Expanded pool of businesses in NY hiring and retaining people with DD on their payroll. 
• 45-60 people will be employed (or gaining employment) throughout the duration of this grant and as a result of grant activities. 
• The suggested structure for ascertaining success with participation can be measured from the beginning of the technical assistance program with:
  • Those who completed CE Discovery, 
  • Those who completed a CE job development plan, 
  • People who gained a job, and 
  • People who participated in Discovery and CE job development and gained employment that matches their skills, interests, and abilities, but was not significantly carved, created, or modified. 
• A marked increase in trainings utilizing both internal and external resources will result in a significant decrease in gaps in service provision. 
• A provider should confirm readiness for CE training (with a new process in place to do so).
• Training should include identified CE candidates, access to employers for practice, and supervisory structures for reinforcement, with scenario-based learning, monthly case reviews, formal observations, and coaching tied to live cases to engage learners in a positively reinforced training that can be shared across agencies.
• Staff participation in training will include one to two managers and leaders per agency, involving briefings on CE objectives, metrics, and supervisory expectations.
• 30 or more engaged providers offering CE employment services will become “fidelity-based high-performing” providers, many of whom will pair mentor staff with underperforming provider staff.
• New staffing structures with accurate job descriptions highlighting skills for CE specifically will support staff retention, and performance plans will be aligned accordingly to drive a cultural shift. 
• Newly developed supported employment processes (given that CE is a type of supported employment).
• Increased leveraging of other services for success and person-centered outcomes. 
• A cohesive standardized definition of CE that all agencies can embrace, with eligibility cues, documentation, and success indicators, which could translate into a one-page shared language guide, a standardized referral and handoff form, and updated participant-facing materials to set expectations. 
• Better inter-agency and intra-agency coordination of CE services for people with DD.
• Provider agency policy changes and adjustments across New York State agencies. 
• Input gleaned from people with DD and their family members and other community members regarding improved service delivery and desired next steps for CE service improvements for people with DD. 

Eligible organizations:

• Nonprofit organizations (note: the lead applicant cannot be a for-profit organization; however, for-profit organizations may serve as subcontractors to the lead applicant)
• Public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, or hospitals
• Disability-service organizations
• Community-based organizations
• Tribal organizations
• Consortia, groups, or partnerships among organizations
• Prequalification is required for all not-for-profit organizations seeking grant funding from New York State. Please see Section 3.2 of RFP for additional Prequalification information.
• The program must be under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or other licensed mental health professional. If the applicant does not have a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or other licensed mental health professional on staff, they must have a letter of commitment from such an individual agreeing to fully supervise the mentoring programs.

Organizations whose staff were involved in the development of this project or Request for Proposal (RFP) are not eligible to directly apply or be included as a sub-contractor for another applicant.

New York State requires nonprofit organizations to register in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) and complete the Vendor Prequalification process, if interested in applying for state funding opportunities. Government entities are not required to prequalify in SFS but must register in SFS to apply.

For proposals to be evaluated, all nonprofit organizations applying for this grant opportunity MUST prequalify by the time and date of submission. Any applicant who submits a proposal that is not prequalified in SFS on the Proposal Due Date listed in the Important Dates table, will be disqualified from further consideration.

Below are links where you can find more information on SFS registration and prequalification requirements.

• Register with the Statewide Financial System: https://www.sfs.ny.gov/
• Get Prequalified in the Statewide Financial System: https://grantsmanagement.ny.gov/get-prequalified
• SFS Registration and Prequalification Questions: Specific questions about registering in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) or getting prequalified in SFS can be directed to the SFS Help desk:  Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m.– 5:00 p.m. [email protected], (518) 457-7717

NOTE: Nonprofit vendors and organizations are strongly encouraged to begin this process as soon as possible to participate in this opportunity. New York State reserves 5-10 business days from the receipt of complete Prequalification applications to conduct its review. If supplementary information or updates are required, review times will be longer.

How to Apply

Instructions on how to apply for this opportunity can be found in the Customized Employment Initiative RFP, which is also located in the Opportunity Documents section below.

Designated Agency Contact:

CDD has assigned a Program Planner as the Designated Contact / Issuing Officer for this project. The Program Planner or a designee shall be the sole point of contact regarding the RFP from the date of issuance of the RFP until the issuance of the Notice of Award letter. To avoid being deemed non-responsive, an applicant is restricted from contacting any other personnel of the CDD regarding the RFP. Certain findings of non-responsibility can result in rejection for a contract award.