Collaboration Across Providers: Strengthening Rehabilitation Services in the St. Louis Region

By Samantha Dean, Program Coordinator Career Development, RISE Services, Inc.

A successful employment outcome rarely happens because of the work of just one person or one organization.

Throughout the St. Louis region, individuals with disabilities may interact with Vocational Rehabilitation counselors and Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs), schools, Department of Mental Health (DMH)-funded services, case managers, employers, families, and other community organizations. Each plays a different role, but ultimately we are often working toward the same goal – helping individuals achieve greater independence, inclusion, and success in their communities.

With so many resources available throughout our region, collaboration helps turn individual services into a coordinated support system.

One Person, Many Partners

An individual pursuing employment may interact with several different providers along the way.

Consider a student preparing to transition from high school into employment. They may begin exploring careers and developing workplace skills while still in school. Later, they may connect with Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation and a CRP for additional employment services. They may also receive supports through DMH or another community organization.

Once employed, their support network could expand to include an employer, job coach, family members, transportation providers, and others.

Each partner brings something different to the table. Making sure those pieces work together is the challenge – and the opportunity.

For the person receiving services, these aren't separate programs or funding streams. They are all parts of a larger goal: building the life and career that individual wants.

Using the Strengths of the St. Louis Community

One of the strengths of working in rehabilitation in the St. Louis area is the variety of providers and resources and expertise available throughout our community. No single provider has to be an expert in everything.

One organization may have extensive experience with supported employment, while another specializes in benefits counseling, assistive technology, behavioral health, independent living, transportation, or transition-age youth. Schools understand their students. Employers understand their workplaces. Families and support networks often know the individual in ways professionals cannot. Most importantly, individuals themselves are the experts on their own goals, preferences, and lives.

Strong collaboration allows us to bring those perspectives together rather than expecting one provider to have every answer. It also means knowing when to reach outside of our own organizations. Sometimes the best thing we can do is recognize that another provider or community partner has a resource or expertise that we don't.

Building Relationships Before We Need Them

Collaboration is much easier when relationships already exist.

Professional organizations such as the Missouri Rehabilitation Association provide opportunities for professionals across the St. Louis region to connect outside of individual cases. Trainings, networking events, chapter activities, and informal conversations give us opportunities to learn about the work happening throughout our community and identify resources that may benefit the people we serve. 

Those relationships matter.

When professionals know one another, it is easier to pick up the phone, ask a question, make a referral, share a resource, or brainstorm a solution. It also helps reduce duplication. Instead of trying to recreate a resource that already exists elsewhere in our community, we can connect individuals with organizations already doing that work well.

From "My Client" to "Our Shared Goal"

Perhaps one of the most valuable shifts we can make is moving away from thinking only in terms of my client, my program, or my agency.

Instead, we can ask: What is this individual trying to accomplish, and how can we work together to help them get there?

Every organization has its own responsibilities. Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation, schools, DMH providers, CRPs, employers, and other community partners operate under different requirements, funding structures, and expectations. Collaboration doesn't eliminate those differences. It allows us to work across them.

Stronger Connections, Stronger Outcomes

The St. Louis rehabilitation community has tremendous knowledge, experience, and resources. Our greatest impact happens when those resources are connected.

Whether it is helping a student prepare for their first job, supporting someone returning to the workforce, helping an employer create a more inclusive workplace, or connecting an individual with resources that increase independence, successful outcomes rarely happen because of the work of just one person or organization.

They happen because people work together.

So what can we do? Start with one connection. Introduce yourself to a provider you haven’t worked with before. Attend an MRA event. Learn about a program in the area that you aren’t familiar with. Share a resource with a colleague. Ask another provider, “How can we work together?”

Small connections can lead to stronger partnerships, and stronger partnerships can lead to better outcomes for the people we serve.

At the end of the day, we may represent different organizations, programs, and systems, but we share the same goal: creating opportunities for people with disabilities to work, participate, and thrive in their communities.