Title: 
Headings: Situational Assessment
Situational
 
Assessment
 

Identifying
 
Assessment
 
Sites
 

Length
 
of
 
the
 
Assessment
 

Number
 
of
 
Assessments
 

Doing
 
the
 
Assessment
 

What
 
to
 
Assess
 

Using
 
the
 
Information
 
from
 
Situational
 
Assessment
 

Situational
 
Assessment
 
as
 
Job
 
Try-Out
 

U.S.
 
Department
 
of
 
Labor

USDOL
 
GUIDANCE
 
ON
 
UNPAID
 
COMMUNITY-BASED
 
ASSESSMENT
 

STATEMENTS
 
OF
 
PRINCIPLE
 

GUIDELINES
 

QUESTIONS
 
AND
 
ANSWERS
 


 
The
 
criteria
 
in
 
the
 
guidelines
 
indicate
 
that
 
the
 
community
 
based
 
rehabilitation
 
program
 
is
 
intended
 
for
 
consumers
 
who
 
will
 
need
 
“intensive
 
on-going
 
support”
 
to
 
perform
 
in
 
a
 
work
 
setting.
  
Does
 
this
 
mean
 
that
 
it
 
is
 
intended
 
for
 
consumers
 
with
 
more
 
severe
 
disabilities?
 


 
If
 
the
 
activity
 
is
 
ordinarily
 
not
 
performed
 
by
 
the
 
employees
 
and
 
yet
 
is
 
beneficial
 
to
 
the
 
business,
 
can
 
the
 
consumer
 
perform
 
the
 
activity?
 


 
What
 
are
 
the
 
implications
 
of
 
the
 
“continued
 
and
 
direct
 
supervision”
 
requirement
 
for
 
agencies
 
and
 
employers?
 


 
What
 
type
 
of
 
documentation
 
is
 
required?
 


 
What
 
is
 
the
 
distinction
 
between
 
benefit
 
to
 
consumer
 
vs.
 
benefit
 
to
 
employer?
 


 
Do
 
these
 
guidelines
 
from
 
the
 
U.S.
 
Department
 
of
 
Labor
 
supersede
 
individual
 
State
 
Departments
 
of
 
Labor
 
regulations?
 


Content: One
 
of
 
the
 
criticisms
 
of
 
more
 
traditional
 
assessment
 
techniques
 
is
 
that
 
they
 
evaluate
 
work
 
skills
 
that
 
have
 
limited
 
application
 
in
 
today’s
 
workplace. Through
 
situational
 
assessment,
 
skills
 
are
 
assessed
 
that
 
are
 
used
 
in
 
actual
 
work
 
environments. Availability
 
of
 
supports
 
and
 
support
 
needs
 
can
 
also
 
be
 
more
 
readily
 
identified
 
through
 
situational
 
assessment. Situational
 
assessment
 
allows
 
for
 
evaluation
 
of
 
an
 
individual’s
 
support
 
needs
 
in
 
an
 
actual
 
work
 
environment,
 
as
 
well
 
as
 
the
 
ability
 
of
 
the
 
work
 
environment
 
to
 
“naturally”
 
provide
 
those
 
work
 
supports. Situational
 
assessment
 
also
 
helps
 
to
 
deal
 
with
 
the
 
issue
 
of
 
so-called
 
“job
 
readiness”. A
 
major
 
barrier
 
for
 
placement
 
of
 
people
 
with
 
disabilities
 
into
 
employment
 
has
 
often
 
been
 
the
 
determination
 
by
 
experts
 
that
 
the
 
individual
 
isn’t
 
“ready”
 
to
 
work
 
in
 
the
 
community
 
due
 
to
 
behavioral
 
issues,
 
lack
 
of
 
motivation,
 
etc. Yet
 
experience
 
has
 
shown
 
that
 
when
 
an
 
individual
 
is
 
in
 
a
 
“real”
 
work
 
environment
 
in
 
the
 
community,
 
those
 
issues
 
considered
 
to
 
be
 
a
 
barrier
 
to
 
employment
 
turn
 
out
 
to
 
be
 
non-issues. For
 
example,
 
behavior
 
which
 
is
 
considered
 
“inappropriate”
 
in
 
a
 
facility
 
based
 
program,
 
may
 
found
 
to
 
be
 
perfectly
 
appropriate
 
for
 
a
 
work
 
environment
 
in
 
the
 
community,
 
or
 
the
 
change
 
in
 
environment
 
may
 
cause
 
the
 
behavior
 
to
 
diminish
 
or
 
disappear. Like
 
any
 
tool,
 
situational
 
assessment
 
should
 
be
 
used
 
in
 
a
 
sensitive
 
manner,
 
based
 
on
 
individual
 
job
 
seeker
 
needs. For
 
people
 
with
 
extensive
 
work
 
histories,
 
and
 
for
 
those
 
whose
 
job
 
goals
 
have
 
become
 
clear
 
through
 
more
 
traditional
 
methods,
 
situational
 
assessment
 
is
 
not
 
necessary
 
or
 
appropriate.