Do Social Systems Really Change? Retrospective Interviews with State-Supported Employment Systems-Change Projectors

Abstract

Supported employment has grown in 15 years from a few model demonstration programs to nationwide implementation. Nearly every state in the country has had a federally funded systems-change grant to implement supported employment programs for persons with severe disabilities. Despite these initiatives focused on systems change, the dynamics of change and the utility of the tools of systemic change are not well understood. This article describes the results of interviews with 10 former directors of systems-change projects. The results are discussed in the context of the ongoing nature of dynamic change in social systems.