Tuesday, March 9, 2010

“Sanchez: Project SEARCH offers specialized job training (Austin American-Statesman)” plus 1 more

“Sanchez: Project SEARCH offers specialized job training (Austin American-Statesman)” plus 1 more

Sanchez: Project SEARCH offers specialized job training (Austin American-Statesman)

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 04:42 PM PST

'I absolutely love (my job)!My co-workers are phenomenal people," said Amy Koch, a floor supply specialist assistant in the supply chain department at Seton Medical Center Austin.Amy also praised the program that made her career possible:Project SEARCH, which began at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in 1997 (www.projectsearch.us) and has been implemented at more than140 national and international sites.

In 2007, Marbridge Foundation and Seton teamed up to implement the first Project SEARCH site in Texas. The program is open to people with intellectual disabilities who live at Marbridge, and for nine months they spend 8-10 weeks at three internship positions at Seton, attend classes and receive job coaching and assistance from a work-site leader.A second Project SEARCH site, a partnership between Dell Children's Medical Center and the Austin Independent School District, is similar and is open to students with disabilities.

The project's interns are not guaranteed employment upon graduation, but the skills that they acquire (not learning trivial jobs but rather those that can be accomplished through systematic routines) make them attractive candidates for various job openings.

Amy, who is almost 44 and has a rare genetic condition called Williams syndrome, was in that first 2007 class and landed her position (she delivers supplies such as scrubs and isolation carts throughout the hospital) upon graduation.Amy explained, "It is a very important job, and it is important to me."She works 20 hours per week and appreciates the fact that even part-time employees at Seton get benefits.

Her enthusiasm and pride are palpable, and I felt joyful as I visited with her, Project SEARCH staff, and other interns and graduates.It was a pleasure to be in the company of so many people who love their jobs.

During a phone interview, Trennis Jones, Seton's senior vice president and chief administrative officer, described Project SEARCH not as a cost to his company but as a savings in terms of increased productivity and the very low absenteeism of project graduates.

Although Project SEARCH graduates generally compete for existing jobs, occasionally jobs are created to capitalize on the interns' strengths.Erin Riehle,one of the project's founders, cites the example of a hospital that created a position for recycling oximetry probes.Previously the probes had been discarded, but a job coach devised a clever modification that allows a PS graduate to systematically process the probes for recycling, resulting in enormous cost savings for the hospital.

The Project SEARCH model relies on braided funding, most often support from a large employer, a school district and a vocational rehabilitation agency.In addition, it needs area employers who are interested in hiring program graduates.

The vocation rehabilitation component is missing so far from the Texas models.Given Project SEARCH's incredible value to people with disabilities as well as to the business community, the state should do everything necessary to help the program be successful and widely replicated.

As for local employers, they should consider how many of their jobs are complex and systematic.They can play a role in growing this emerging talent pool of well-trained employees by partnering with local school districts to establish a Project SEARCH program at their facility or by hiring project graduates.

State leaders, area employers and local school districts need to visit Project SEARCH at Seton.The love of work that they encounter there should be contagious.

asanchez@austin.rr.com

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Career Collaborative holding free job search program in Boston (Allston-Brighton Tab)

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 02:06 PM PST

Career Collaborative, 77 Summer St., 11th Fl., Boston, near Downtown Crossing, is holding a free job search program. Low-income adults who are looking for a full-time permanent job and legal to work in the U.S. are invited to attend the program, which begins with a free four-week workshop.

Orientation is held at 1 p.m. every Thursday, leading up to the April 5 workshop. Bring a resume or job/education list.

For more information, call 617-259-1045.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)