NEGOTIATING AS INDIVIDUALS AND IN PARTNERSHIPS

AS INDIVIDUALS
Support Brokers are individuals with a voice of their own. As you advocate for your employers and participate in planning, you will have to consider your own perceptions, values, and insights. As an individual, you will create relationships not only with your employer but also with the Circle of Support, potential providers, and other community members, family and friends. All of these roles come into play when it is time to negotiate during plan development with the Circle of Support.  You may have a tendency to listen more to your own inner voice as you maneuver through putting the pieces of a plan together; but you must remember that you are just one individual member of the team and your role is to advocate and speak for your employer. You will negotiate for what your employer wants.  At times, this might mean that you will need to keep individual opinions at bay; this is a tricky but necessary skill to learn.

AS PARTNERS
You will create partnerships with the adult with a disability, community members, family, friends, and potential providers.  In some cases the individual will make his or her own particular wants, needs, and preferences known; however, when your employer wants you to step in and be his advocate, you will be required to help negotiate pay rates, time of services, assuring quality, etc. Additionally, you will be the one that helps others embrace the concept of Self-Determination and respect for each individual to be self-directed. The partnerships you and your employer create will likely make or break the plan. When you engage in true partnership, everyone has a voice and everyone is a part of the brainstorming. When you create positive relationships with your employer and the community, everyone tends to work together to help make the plan a success. Often, good partnerships can enhance possibilities beyond what was initially hoped for.

CASE STUDY
A Story about Partnership and Possibilities:
It was summertime and Sally was very concerned about what her adult sister, Jan, was going to do with her time. Sally was beginning to think about adult day care as an option. Jan spent the first few days of summer taking walks; she often walked by a horse stable, climbed the fence and watched the people walk the horses in a circle. Tony, the owner, came over to Jan to find out who she was and what she was doing. After a few days Jan and Tony became friends. Tony asked Jan if she would like to come and help with the horses. Tony offered Jan a job. When Jan came home that afternoon Sally was surprised by her excitement. After Sally finally figured out what Jan was trying to tell her, they took a drive over to the horse corral. Jan introduced her sister to Tony. Sally was very concerned about the whole situation but Tony and Jan together helped her to see that they had formed a partnership and were asking her to help. Jan started working with Tony the next day. Jan and Tony negotiated a fair wage with Sally's help and they all discussed the terms of Jan's employment. That was ten years ago- Jan works year round for Ted, the other stable hands, and the whole family.
This is a lesson in creating partners and in keeping one's individual fears at bay. This is a lesson in possibilities and self-direction.

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