Engaging Communities in Identifying Local Strategies for Expanding Integrated Employment During and After High School.

The team ran six World Café events in different towns. Parents, teachers, employers, and young adults with IDD sat at small tables and talked. Each table wrote local ideas for creating jobs after high school.

Staff collected the notes and sorted them into themes. The goal was to crowd-source practical steps that fit each community, not to test a program.

The cafés produced 1,556 separate ideas. Examples ranged from “coffee shop job tours” to “bus pass funds.” Attendees said the process felt hopeful and gave clear next steps.

No numbers on jobs gained were tracked. The output was a rich list of locally tailored strategies, not outcome data.

Cruz-Montecinos et al. (2024) copied the same café style but moved it onto Zoom. They also got useful ideas, showing the method works online and in person.

Kramer et al. (2020) and Butterworth et al. (2024) count how few adults with IDD hold real jobs—only about one in five. Carter et al. (2016) answers those papers by offering a cheap way to generate more job chances, not just describe the gap.

Migliore et al. (2012) found that job coaches often skip best practices. The café findings can fill that gap by giving coaches fresh, local leads straight from families and employers.

You can host a one-night World Café for your district at low cost. Invite students, families, local businesses, and VR staff. In two hours you will leave with a ranked list of who can offer jobs, training sites, or rides. Use the list to write new transition goals that already have community buy-in.