Maine Supported Employment and Customized Employment for Students with Disabilities

Two Models, Two Funding Streams, One Goal

"Supported employment" and "customized employment" sound interchangeable, but in Maine's service system they describe different approaches with different funding sources. Understanding the distinction matters because the handoff between DVR's time-limited funding and OADS's long-term waiver funding is where employment placements most commonly fall apart.

Supported Employment Through DVR

The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation funds supported employment as part of an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE). The model is straightforward: DVR pays for job development (finding a position that matches the person's skills and goals), initial job coaching (an employment specialist works alongside the person at the job site), and workplace accommodations (assistive technology, environmental modifications, employer education).

DVR's funding is time-limited by design. Once the person achieves competitive, integrated employment — a real job in the community, at or above minimum wage, working alongside people without disabilities — and maintains stability, DVR job coaching typically phases out after about 90 days. The assumption is that either the person can sustain the job independently or long-term supports will come from another funding source.

For transition-age students, DVR can begin employment services while the student is still in school. Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) cover job exploration and work-based learning starting at age 14. A formal DVR application about two years before expected school exit opens the full range of employment services.

Customized Employment

Customized employment is a specific methodology within the broader supported employment framework. Instead of matching a person to an existing job opening, customized employment starts with a discovery process — a detailed assessment of the person's interests, skills, contributions, and conditions for success — and then negotiates a job with an employer that's tailored to what the person can do.

The result might be a carved position (a subset of tasks from an existing job), a created position (a new role built around unmet employer needs), or a micro-enterprise (self-employment). The key distinction is that the job didn't exist before — it was designed around the individual.

DVR funds customized employment through the IPE, and Maine has been expanding its use for individuals with significant disabilities who don't fit neatly into existing job openings. The approach is particularly valuable in rural Maine, where the job market is thin and traditional supported employment may struggle to find appropriate placements.

The OADS Long-Term Handoff

Here's where the system gets complicated. DVR's 90-day stability period ends, and the person still needs a job coach two days a week. Who pays?

If the person is enrolled in Section 21 or Section 29 waiver services (or the upcoming Lifespan Waiver), OADS can fund long-term extended employment services — ongoing job coaching, transportation to work, and work specialist support — through MaineCare. This is the intended handoff: DVR gets the person employed, OADS keeps them employed.

The problem is timing. If the person exits school, DVR places them in a job, DVR's 90-day window closes, and OADS intake hasn't been completed or the waiver waitlist hasn't cleared, there's a gap. No job coach shows up. The employer calls the family. The placement fails.

Preventing this gap requires starting the OADS intake process at least two years before the student exits school — ideally at the same time as the formal DVR application. The IEP transition team, DVR counselor, and OADS case manager should be in the same meeting coordinating timelines. If your child's IEP meetings don't include both DVR and OADS representatives, request their attendance in writing.

What "Competitive Integrated Employment" Means

Maine follows the federal definition: work performed in an integrated setting (not a sheltered workshop or segregated program), at competitive wages (at or above minimum wage, commensurate with what non-disabled employees earn for similar work), and with opportunities for advancement.

The state has been shifting away from facility-based day programs and toward community-integrated employment, consistent with the Olmstead decision's mandate for services in the most integrated setting appropriate. For transition-age students, this means IEP employment goals should target real community jobs, not pre-vocational activities in school-based settings.

The Maine IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes an employment coordination worksheet for aligning DVR job coaching timelines with OADS waiver enrollment, so the long-term funding is confirmed before DVR's time-limited support ends.

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