The team (vocational unit) meeting occurs on a weekly basis where team members share ideas and information about people receiving IPS services. All IPS team members participate equally in the team meeting where problem-solving about individuals’ job searches, job placements, and follow-along supports.
The meeting is an opportunity to review the different facets of the service. For example, occasionally have employment specialists bring in a completed career profile, job search plan, or follow-along plan and discuss in-depth how to improve these tools. This process will allow additional considerations about what types of employment opportunities and/or the types of supports needed to sustain employment. It will be critical to ensure a focus on problem-solving rather than an administrative focus or providing updates only.
Team members also utilize this time to share job leads and begin to identify specific cases that would best be suitable for some of the job leads. The team meeting is an opportunity to celebrate success that occur, some examples include: a person obtaining an interview, a person obtaining employment, or a person sustaining employment. The team meeting reviews the employment goals of individuals receiving services and the progress towards achieving these goals.
Additionally, the team lead facilitates the on-going discussion, reviewing specific outcomes as a team and per employment specialist. The development of specific and concrete goals for improvement should be conducted on at least a quarterly basis. Though employment specialists should have discrete caseloads, they should provide support to other team members as needed and appropriate.
