Employment levels for people with disabilities are low, even in this strong economy. As of 2017, less than 19% of people with disabilities were employed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. In contrast, the employment-population ratio for those without a disability was nearly 66%. Customized and Supported Employment is a tool we can use to begin to balance out those statistics.
At Excentia, we believe all people should strive for competitive and integrated employment. We utilize a Customized and Supported Employment approach to assist people in achieving their employment goals. We begin by discovering a person’s talents and interests that will direct them towards an enjoyable career path. We then support the person to acquire, obtain, and maintain their employment. We utilize many other supports and services to assist people in being competitively employed. For Stephanie, we started supporting her through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Stephanie is part of our Residential Program and has been very eager to get back to work. She has worked with E.A.R.S. and Goodwill in the past, but neither was quite the right fit for her. She applied for services with OVR and requested Excentia as her service provider. I met Stephanie for the first time back in October of 2018.
Stephanie knew she wanted to find meaningful employment, but she needed some help taking the first steps. Discovery is the first aspect of Customized Employment. This includes exploring and performing tasks from different areas of the “Strengths and Interests” that were identified during the completion of the Discovery Profile. Stephanie and her Job Coach did several job trials at locations such as Dunkin Donuts, New Holland Re-Uzit, and Thomas Trading. We also went to several places of business to enquire about what a job there would entail, such as Weis Markets, Dollar Tree and Spooky Nook Sports.
When we met Barbara Shellenberger from “The Nook”, she appreciated Stephanie’s enthusiasm and was interested in helping Stephanie obtain employment. Barbara sent Stephanie’s resume to her co-worker, Dustin Sload, that manages the Facilities Enhancement Department at the Lanco Fieldhouse, which is a subsidiary of Spooky Nook. He contacted us and we toured the facility. Stephanie stated that she would like to work there because she could complete her job duties in the morning before the facility was open to the public. At that time there would be no distractions, which had been a barrier to maintaining employment for Stephanie in the past. Even better, she could essentially complete her tasks during any 2-3 hour period, between 8am and 2pm. That suited her because she would have a key card along with her ID and all the responsibility that goes with it. Dustin was pleased with Stephanie’s enthusiasm and interest. He informed Stephanie that he would put her name forward with the HR Department when he returned to the main facility. She got an email later that day informing her of the job offer!
Stephanie is now an official employee of Spooky Nook which, by the way, includes a free pass to use all the facilities, and a 35% discount at the hotel and restaurant. She will still need the support of a job coach to navigate some of the aspects of her new job, but with Stephanie’s strong work ethic and team of supporters, she’ll be a great success story for Integrated & Competitive/Supported Employment before you know it. In my opinion, she already is.
