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Disability
and Employment - Vocational Rehabilitation: Where Partners Create
Careers - Strategies provided on the following topic:
Strategy:
Telecommunications Center and Projects With Industry
Presenters: Robbie Arrington, Career and
Recovery Resources, Inc; Mario N. Gonzalez Jr., Senior Employment
Specialist, Projects With Industry;
Sopheak Pen, Employment Specialist, Projects With Industry;
BJ James, BAC Member, Consolidated Mills,
Inc.; Ed B. Bible, Director of Training and Employment, South Carolina
Communication for the Blind; Michael S. Ralston, Director of Training,
South Carolina Commission for the Blind
Contact: 2525 San Jacinto, Houston, TX
77002
Phone: (713) 751 7974
Fax: (713) 751 7977
rarringto@careerandrecovery.org
Facilitator: Joe Farrell
Telecommunications Center: After a
labor market analysis in 2000, the South Carolina Commission for the
Blind determined that the leading industry in the state to be
telecommunications activities including customer services
representatives, rental reservation technicians, insurance
representatives, and reservation specialists. With an establishment
grant, plans were developed to create a training center to provide
training for careers in the telecommunications industries for consumers
who are blind or who have visual impairments.
Recognizing that participation by private
industry employers was essential to the success of the program, the
vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency partnered with the Alamo National
Car (ANC) Rental Corporation to develop utilizing state-of-the-art
assistive technology and adapting the industry software for use with
adaptive technology. The private industry partner provided technical
assistance, financial support and a commitment to hire all of the
consumers who successfully completed the training. In addition, the ANC
Rental Corporation was flexible and allowed the VR agency to enter into
training agreements with other private industry. The Telecommunications
Center has the capacity to provide training for thirty consumers in a
twelve-week course with six weeks of the training on live telephone
calls. The center opened in September of 2001 and has placed all of the
consumers who have completed the training in permanent employment
ranging in annual salaries from $26,000 to $34,000.
The placement rate for consumers who
complete the training is strong testimony to the effectiveness of the
collaborative effort between the public VR agency and the private
partner. All of the placements are competitive, permanent and
compensated by standards established for all employees. Employees have
full benefits packages and are offered incentives. The employers express
a high degree of satisfaction with performance of the employees who go
through the training program. Consumer satisfaction is also rated very
satisfactory. The program addresses the constant changing technology as
applicable to telecommunications, and technical assistance is offered to
employers on an on-going basis.
This program demonstrates the value of
partnerships with private employers and the value of the market
approach. It also demonstrates a positive impact on the VR agency with
increased competitive placements and technical and financial support
from employers. Demonstration of the application of technology at all
levels is abundant. The program accepts trainees from other state VR
agencies for a tuition fee when there are available slots. Other states,
including Florida and Georgia, have expressed satisfaction with the
training and especially the placement. The focus of the program fits
into four of the five themes listed in the criteria, and clearly
demonstrates replicability by defining the target group, defined outcome
and strategies to stay on the cutting edge of technology and overcome
any challenges or barriers that may be presented.
The Three Cs Collaborating,
Cooperating, and Creating For Customer Success: The Houston, Texas
Projects With Industry (PWI) Program at Career and Recovery Resources,
Inc. (CRR) is in its fifth year of funding. The program provides a
comprehensive employment support network consisting of career counseling
training job placement, retention and career advancement opportunities
for persons with significant disabilities through individualized,
systematic services.
The project staff and the Houston
disability community feel that the success of this program is the result
of strong collaboration with other service providers. We also realize
that employment although critical to a meaningful lifestyle, is not the
only need of individuals with disabilities. PWI’s primary focus is job
placement and job retention. However, during the first year of funding,
the PWI staff realized that we needed partners to assist in our efforts
to help our customers become completely self-sufficient.
PWI’s first partner was the State
Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies, the Texas Rehabilitation Commission
(TRC) and the Texas Commission for the Blind (TCB). PWI and TRC entered
into a formal agreement outlining specific responsibilities of the
Commission and the PWI program in establishing and certifying for
Vocational Rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities who
are also unemployed and/or economically disadvantaged. If there is a
misunderstanding with the TRC counselor, preventing the release of
needed information about a customer, PWI staff will provide this
counselor with a copy of the TRC/PWI agreement to resolve the issue.
Our next partner was the Houston Center
for Independent Living (HCIL). Again, there is a formal agreement
between HCIL and PWI. Customers are referred to HCIL regarding housing,
attendant care, sign language classes, peer counseling, social security
information, etc. PWI staff provides job search training to customers at
the Center upon request.
Other important partners to the PWI
program include the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, the
Mayor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the Houston
Recovery Campus, the Social Security Administration, The Texas
Commission for the Blind, Advocacy, Inc., Houston Community Voice Mail
and S.E.A.R.C.H. (a homeless shelter). Noting the large number of
customers with criminal backgrounds, we invidt4d the Harris County
Community Supervision and Corrections Department’s offender placement
coordinator, to train PWI staff on working with offenders. This
coordinator was instrumental in educating judges and probation officers
concerning probation reporting requirements. The PWI staff has also made
several presentations to probation officers about PWI services.
At least twice a year the PWI staff
sponsors an Inner City Resources Meeting to allow customers to meet with
and ask questions of PWI’s collaborative partners. Each agency provides
information concerning services provided and questions are taken from
customers at the end of the meeting. These meetings allow customers to
become familiar with these agencies, thus alleviating much of the
distrust and misunderstanding that some customers have regarding
governmental agencies. During the month of October, in recognition of
National Awareness for Hiring People with Disabilities, the PWI program
sponsors a job fair. Past attendance has yielded positive results with
participation from 30 to 40 employers. Furthermore, job seeker presence
has also been high, usually exceeding 300 participants.
CRR/PWI’ Business Advisory Council (BAC)
membership meets or exceeds all the requirements of the Department of
Education’s Regulations. Membership includes representations from the
local VR Offices (the Texan Rehabilitation Commission and the Texas
Commission for the Blind), as well as two labor unions (AFL/CIO and the
international Brotherhood of Electrical Workers), persons with
disabilities and people from business and industry. A PWI/BAC member
serves on the International Association of Business, Industry and
rehabilitation (I-NABIR) Board. The ethnic breakdown of the Board is
representative of the community served. Members are Asian, Hispanic,
African American and Anglo/European. The BAC assists with training and
provides job leads for customers. The BAC has two sub committees, the
Employment Committee and the Clothes Closet Committee. The Employment
Committee assists with maintaining an inventory of professional attire
for customers in need of this service.
PWI staff consists of a project
coordinator, three employment specialists and a support specialist.
Ethnically, the PWI staff is representative of the customer served.
Fifty-one percent of PWI’s customers, according to grant requirements,
must live within the Enhanced Community/Empowerment Zone (EC/EZ). In
order to better serve/accommodate customers, there is a PWI office
located in the EC/EZ. Customers living within the EC/EZ are mostly
African Americans and Hispanics. Before a qualified Hispanic becomes
employed in the PWI program it was very difficult to keep
Spanish-speaking customers. PWI’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce-resulting
in more Hispanics being referred to the Program. PWI staff is encouraged
to take advantage of educational opportunities related to the disability
field. Staff attends the I-NABIR conferences and the Project Director’s
National conferences and have received certificates of employment
services from the University of North Texas’ Department of
Rehabilitation Social Work & Addictions. All PWI staff members receive
an annual evaluation. PWI staff keeps abreast of employment trends in
the Houston area and the State through a monthly newsletter of the Texas
Workforce Commission. CRR is also a member of the Greater Houston
Partnership, the primary advocate of Houston’s business community.
When customers enter the PWI Program, the
first fill out an application. Next, they are screened and assessed by
an employment specialist to determine which workshops they might need to
attend. Workshops offered are Career Counseling/Assessment, Job Search
Skills, Interviewing, Resume Writing and Job Retention. Self-Esteem and
Motivational Workshops are also available through various agencies. Upon
completion of the workshops, customers are allowed to use the PWI Job
Bank at any time. The Job Bank includes telephones for calling
employers, fax machines for faxing resumes, Internet, assistive
technology devices for visually impaired or blind customers, and a job
listing bulletin board, which is updated weekly. Customers without
telephones are provided a voice mailbox through Houston Community Voice
Mail. PWI Staff work very hard to seek the best competitive wages for
their customers. The PWI program proposed to place 115 persons with
disabilities in competitive employment for a minimum of 90 days. At the
closing of our 4th year funding, September 30, 2001, staff had placed
139 customers with disabilities that had been successfully employed for
90 days, with an average hourly wage of $8.99. After placement, an
employment specialist follows up with each customer for at least a year.
Some customers that have been working since the inception of the program
are still in touch with their employment specialist providing job leads
for others.
The PWI staff members are very visible in
the disability community. The Program Coordinator is vice-chair on the
Board at the Houston Center for Independent Living and also serves as
employment chair on the Mayor’s Committee of Employment of People with
Disabilities. The former senior employment specialist is commissioner on
City’s Affirmative Action Committee and the Houston Commission for
People with Disabilities. PWI acted as a host to the Mayor’s Town Hall
Meeting for People with Disabilities.
PWI utilizes the strong management
systems of Career and Recovery Resources, Inc., which has more than 55
years of experience with managing employment programs. PWI is able to
utilize Alternative Program Counseling for substance abusing men and
women, HIV Counseling and Testing, and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Program and the Senior Employment Program.
Every six months CRR has an independent
auditor audit program files and management. After these audits, the
auditors have always reported that the PWI Program had no significant
exceptions based on the data reviewed.
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Strategy : The VR
"Employer-as-a-Customer" Partnership: Effective Strategies |