Dear persons served, families, guardians, and stakeholders:

For many years, the policy direction at the state and federal level has been moving towards the elimination of sub-minimum wages. In May of 2024, Epic moved to paying all clients’ minimum wage. As we continue to work to align with evolving practices, we continue to move towards competitive integrated employment (CIE) and community life engagement (CLE).

We are working with the MN Transformation Initiative (MTI) as we continue our process. MTI is a partnership between the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration, UMass Boston’s Institute for Community Inclusion, The Arc Minnesota, Quillo and Strengths@Work, LLC. The Minnesota Department of Human Services funds MTI. With their guidance and support we are doing the following:

  • All crew members are being paid minimum wages.
  • The remaining contracts will be negotiated to support minimum wages.
  • For work sites that end, clients will have the opportunity to work on another crew temporarily and/or work with an Employment Consultant to find new employment or transition to life enrichment activities.
  • We have hired and trained two employment consultants who will assist those who want to seek new employment by using a customized employment approach. This process focuses on the person’s strengths, skills, how they learn new tasks, interests, and what supports need to be in place for them to have the best chance at being successful. It is very person centered.
  • Our Day Services will continue to grow and be even more person-centered, focusing on activities based upon each person’s unique skills and strengths.
  • Our staff will be receiving additional training related to providing support in a more person-centered way.
  • We will be restructuring the staff to provide better opportunities across both services (employment and life enrichment)
  • Our Transportation Coordinator will facilitate a group focused on reducing transportation barriers to employment and other activities.
  • We are using an HR consultant to assist us with recruitment to hire additional staff to reduce our waiting list for services and be positioned to provide a combination of services for current people served.
  • We are moving to a new HRIS (Human Resource Information System) system to streamline our payroll and HR activities. More information to come for those of you that these impacts.
  • Members of the Leadership Team are participating in various Community of Practice groups as well as leadership training.
  • Any new referrals for employment services are moving directly into CIE.
  • We continue to expand our art and music options into the community.

Already we have had employers hire individuals directly and are providing support to clients just as they would to any employee they hire. We are still available and providing support too. Some individuals who were on crews have already found new employment opportunities that better match their skills and interests. Some individuals have shifted to day support services and are exploring new skills and interests.

We recognize that change is hard, yet it can also be rewarding, and our goal is for each person to choose the option that is best for them whether that is a job, day support services or both. We are excited about what the future holds for everyone!

If you have questions or suggestions as we continue our journey, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Leadership Team Nathan, Susan, Michelle and Heidi. We would also welcome your ideas and connections to potential employers so please do not hesitate to pass any contacts along.

Thank you for your support as we continue this journey of transformation.

Sincerely,

Heidi Maghan
Executive Director

View the following links:

 

Back to News