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Disability
and Employment - Vocational Rehabilitation: Where Partners Create
Careers - Strategies provided on the following topic:
Strategy: Transitional Employment: How Local Partners Can All
Benefit
Presenters: Sara Reitenauer, Vocational
Rehabilitation Counselor, Pennsylvania Office of Vocational
Rehabilitation; Kym Kleinsmith,
Clubhouse Director, Mosaic House; Peggy Gernerd, Staff Generalist,
Mosaic House; Peggy Levine, Consumer and Member, Mosaic House; Bridget
Hindle, Recruiter, Sovereign Bank
Contact: 1090 Commons Boulevard ,
Reading, PA 19605
Phone: (610) 378 4370
Fax: (610) 378 4599
sreitenaue@state.pa.us
Facilitator: Darlo Koldenhoven
Transitional vocational rehabilitation
services to consumers with severe and persistent mental illness often
have proven unsuccessful if one is to consider success in terms of
acquiring and retaining employment. Many times these consumers were able
to secure employment by utilizing the supports available with the
provision of existing services. However once these supports were no
longer present to both the consumer and the employer problems would
arise and the job would be lost. This ongoing pattern demonstrated that
there was a void of services in the community to aid consumers with
persistent mental illness with their quest to remain employed in
competitive jobs.
The Pennsylvania Office of Vocational
Rehabilitation, Reading District Office, partnered wit a local service
provider, Mosaic House, to determine how that void can be filled. The
Mosaic House is a mental health clubhouse that provides services to
members/consumers with sever and persistent mental illness with a focus
on employment. The Mosaic House is modeled after Fountain House in New
York City, of which transitional employment is a key component. The
result of this partnering was the adoption of a transitional employment
program that was adapted to meet the needs of a small county filled with
both rural and urban neighborhoods.
It was apparent that the transitional
employment program would not be successful without the vested
partnership of both consumers and employers. Guidelines for selecting
the additional partners had to be established. The Pennsylvania Office
of Vocational Rehabilitation and Mosaic House discussed the needs,
goals, and guidelines when considering these guidelines. We reviewed the
services that this program would offer to both the consumer and the
employer that might aid in assisting with job retention, which was an
area where there was a noticeable gap in services in the community. With
this information, a contract for services was developed.
Additionally, we considered the goal and
missions of the consumer and employer partners when proceeding wit
developing employment matches. It was recognized that it is important to
match consumer abilities and interest with employment need in the
community. By doing this, both of these partners are having essential
need fulfilled.
The transitional employment program has
enabled all the vested partners, the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational
Rehabilitation, The Mosaic House, the consumers, and the employers, to
meet their goals, their missions, and their needs.
Next
Strategy :
Recruiting and Retaining Valuable Employees at Colleges and
Universities: The Partnership Approach |