Hello,

With ES-Coach now retired, we’re open to suggestions for the next research chapter.

Our goal: to study the ecosystem that enables employment programs to thrive—because when employment programs thrive, more people with IDD achieve their career goals.

Your ideas are most welcome!

Check out these tentative research questions to get you started:

1. How do state policies, service definitions, and funding models across VR, IDD, and Medicaid systems enable or constrain best practices in supported and customized employment? Goal: Identify how rate structures, billing rules, and system design features can better support quality, timeliness, and coordination.
2. How do employment programs interpret and adapt state guidance? Goal: Close the policy–practice gap and highlight what works in the field.
3. What helps employment programs “keep their lights on,” innovate, and grow? Goal: Uncover barriers, creative solutions, and new models that promote sustainability and lasting impact.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas. Please share by replying to this email or anonymously at this link.

Thank you for helping shape research that supports employment programs to thrive.

Alberto

ES-Coach was a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston in partnership with the Institute of Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. For more information, visit www.es-coach.org.

Gut feelings can only take you so far – analyze the right data, spot the trends that matter, and adjust your game plan in real time (Dave Kline, MGMT Playbook).

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