Mission/Goals

To provide students with visual disabilities paid summer work experience to sharpen the vocational skills they acquire during the regular school year. The program aims to (a) assist students in developing work readiness and socialization skills, (b) assist in their transition planning, and (c) provide students with a variety of work experience opportunities and avenues that could lead to permanent employment.

Organization/Program Context

Overbrook School for the Blind, a nonprofit corporation, is a dynamic and responsive educational organization. Its mission is to provide leadership as a local, national, and international resource to develop and deliver education that enhances options for persons with visual impairments to experience active and fulfilling lives. Throughout the school year students at Overbrook prepare for entry into the world of work through classroom study and hands-on training at work sites in the community. During the summer students continue to sharpen their vocational skills through a paid work experience, the CHOICE program (Career Help at Overbrook for Individuals who Choose Employment). Students and their families who decide to participate in CHOICE come from Overbrook School for the Blind, area public high schools, and colleges. CHOICE uses paid work experiences in local businesses and the help of job coaches to prepare students for future employment. These experiences give students greater exposure to various choices in the world of work thus creating an easier transition to more permanent work. In addition, the program offers rich benefits to the students and their families, businesses, and the community by creating positive attitudes about persons with visual disabilities and a "can do" feeling among all participants.

Community Setting

Urban and suburban areas of the metropolitan Philadelphia region. Overbrook is a private chartered school providing special education services for students with blindness and visual impairment.

Population Served

All the students served by the program have a primary disability of blindness or severe visual impairment. Many students have additional disabilities including mental retardation, cognitive and physical disabilities, and hearing impairments. Students ages 16 to 21 from Overbrook, area public schools, and college students authorized by local vocational rehabilitation agencies participate in the program.

Model/Practice/Strategy Description

Students participating in CHOICE are referred to the program either by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services (BVS), by parents, or by previous teachers or students. Major funding for the program is provided by BVS. Every summer about 20 to 35 students participate in the program.

There are three components to the program.

Individual Student Assessment. Once selected for the program, every student is assigned to a job developer. Each job developer works with an average of three students. The job developer conducts an initial assessment of the student to determine their skills and specific work needs. This assessment involves reviewing the student's records and conducting a student interview.

Selective Job Development. Following the assessment, the student and the job developer formulate a plan to find employment that matches the student's skills and interests as well as employers' needs. The job development plan requires the student and his or her family to take an active role in the job seeking process. This includes investigating job leads, going for interviews, and following up with potential employers. A key element during this phase of the program is to ensure that a student gains varied work experiences which is accomplished by having the student do assignments with different area employers from one summer to the next. The job developer helps to obtain appropriate employment by making a site visit to appraise the job. If the job meets the student's interests and skills, an employment interview is arranged. If the interview is successful, a job offer is made.

Job Support Services. Once hired, every student is expected to carry out the requirements of the job. The job coach works with the student to get acclimated with the job and then visits the work site periodically to observe the student's progress or to teach the student the job tasks. Job support in the form of a job coach ensures that every student has the support necessary to experience the greatest success in the program. The employer is an integral part of the support plan and provides regular feedback on the student's progress which is documented by weekly written reports and a summary at the end of the student's program.

Exemplary School-to-Work Components

School-based Learning

 

Teaching Staff as Job Developers. Overbrook teaching staff also serve as job developers and trainers thus providing them with a firsthand look at the importance of developing vocational competencies. The staff can assist students in developing these competencies during the academic year with the aid of classroom assignments.

 

 

Work-based Learning

 

Collaboration. Critical to the success of CHOICE is the collaboration that has been developed and maintained with a variety of employers including several hospital, retail stores, child care centers, offices, and restaurants. Having students with visual disabilities working in several different kinds of work environments helps to increase the community awareness of persons with visual disabilities.

Job Coaching. Every student is assisted by a job coach. The job coach helps the student get acclimated to the job and then regularly visits the work site to observe the student's progress. The job coach can also assist in teaching job tasks and be present at the site most of the time, if needed. This helps the students learn varied work tasks and workplace socialization behaviors resulting in enhanced confidence and a "can do" attitude critical for achieving permanent employment as an adult. The employers also learn about the skills and work competencies of students with visual disabilities and ways to accommodate the work environments.

 

 

Connecting Activities

 

Sensitivity Awareness Training. During the job development and job support phases sensitivity awareness trainings are conducted both by the students with visual disabilities and job coaches to help educate employers about visual disabilities.

What Makes it Work?

• CHOICE is oriented toward the needs of the students as well as the businesses.
• CHOICE offers employer services such as job coaching and training whenever necessary.
• There is effective job matching of students along with a strong local employer base.
• The regular teaching staff are available to provide critical job support at individual work sites during the summer.
• CHOICE offers choices in terms of work-sites and jobs thus giving greater exposure to the students.

Staff

Employment Program Coordinator

1 part time

• Conducts the general administration of the program
• Coordinates the funding and staffing needs of the program

 

CHOICE Program Coordinator

1 full time

• Supervises the staff
• Manages the daily operations of the project
• Maintains student records and reports
• Recruits staff and conducts staff training

 

Employment Training Specialist

20 to 35 part time depending on the number of students

• Conducts student and family interviews
• Provides selective job placement activities for the students
• Trains students in job tasks and work socialization skills
• Provides technical assistance to employers
• Completes daily job progress reports of the students

 

Clerical Typist

3 part time

• Performs general clerical tasks such as copying, filing, etc.
• Data entry of the job training reports
• Keeps records of the billing and service provisions

Maria's Story

When Maria, a student with visual impairments, was in high school she participated in the CHOICE program to compliment her academic instruction and extra curricular activities. Maria took an active role with her CHOICE job developer during the job seeking process. CHOICE presented Maria various job opportunities in the clerical and child care areas. One summer, Maria worked as a clerical assistant at a major pharmaceutical company where she answered the phone and took short messages without a CHOICE job trainer. The next summer in the same clerical assistant position and with limited guidance and consultation of a CHOICE job trainer, Maria added on several job tasks including filing, copying, faxing, making arrangements for departmental training seminars, and light typing. This experience increased the variety and complexity of Maria's work assignments and helped her gain greater skills, confidence, and experience. In addition, Maria worked in a child-care setting where she worked with children ranging in age from 6 months to 3 years. She worked 30 hours a weeks for about 8 weeks. Her duties included helping with the daily living activities, assisting the teacher with reading, play, trips, and administration. Her involvement in CHOICE helped Maria make an informed decision about picking child-care as her career. Maria has since graduated from high school and is attending a junior college, majoring in early childhood education. In a recent article in her school's quarterly newsletter Maria said the following about the CHOICE program. "It's great! It prepares you for the real world. If you don't have this kind of experience you don't know what the real world is like and how people act."

"It's great! It prepares you for the real world. If you don't have this kind of experience you don't know what the real world is like and how people act."

This profile was generated by the School-to-Work Outreach Project at the Institute on Community Integration (UAP), University of Minnesota. The development and dissemination of these profiles was supported in part by grant #H029B30142 from the U.S. Department of Education.

For further information, contact the School-to-Work Outreach Project, Institute on Community Integration (UAP), University of Minnesota, 111 Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

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