Empowering Employment
The Empowering Employment program is designed to provide on the job training to individuals with disabilities, who are fully immersed in the workplace, in addition to receiving employability skills training, and post program job development. Not only does this provide job training for individuals with disabilities, but it also provides education, training, and awareness to the employer. This program combines an adult service provider agency with support and services for individuals with disabilities in the workplace and provides training opportunities. The goal at the end of the program is skill development that leads to long-term employment. This program is meant to be scalable and sustainable over time, offering small cohorts of the program to lead to competitive, integrated employment, and retention of employees upon hire.
CORE Careers
CORE Foundations takes a multifaceted, person-centered approach to helping individuals with disabilities obtain and maintain meaningful employment. These supports span across the job cycle and include everything from job searching and preparation to support for independent workers. Outlined below are several service offerings through our CORE Careers program.
- Job Readiness: If an individual is interested in future employment, but is not ready to actively seek employment, they can still participate in the CORE Careers program by working on job readiness. In this program, community members work with staff to learn meaningful employment skills (work/life balance, advocacy, professionalism, etc.) that they will one day be able to apply to their future employment.
- Job Development: Job Development Services provide support to community members to obtain a meaningful job in a competitive integrated employment setting. Working directly with qualified staff, community members engage in a variety of tasks and exercises to secure paid employment. Job development activities include but are not limited to:
- Resume Building
- Interview Preparation and Support
- Informational Interviews
- Mock Interviews
- Community Surveying
- Application Completion and Follow-up
- Social Skills
- Use of virtual reality curriculum to support skill acquisition
- Ongoing Job Supports: Ongoing Job Supports provide community members support in learning and completing job tasks when beginning a new job, after a promotion, or following a significant change in duties or circumstances. We develop individualized support in collaboration with the Person-Centered Planning Team to support successful employment
- Follow Along Job Supports: Follow-along support provides a faded support structure to ensure that community members have the support needed to maintain their job
Sequence of 20-week curriculum for Empowering Employment
Week 1 - Trainee Onboarding
Day 1
Welcome to Empowering Employment!
- Behavioral Expectations
- Introduce Team Members
- Share cell phone numbers
- Cell Phone Etiquette
- Clock-in/Clock-out Procedures
- Team Building Activity reviewing building spaces, contacting each other general reminders
Days 2 and 3
Community Volunteer Experience
- Clock in/out
- Review behavioral / cell phone etiquette
- Accessing emails
- Begin exploring Kennedy Krieger campus
- Writing professional emails
Day 4
Community Volunteer Experience
- Review from day 1-3
- Round 1 trainee opportunity discussions
- Introduction to available departments
- Clock in/ clock out procedures
- Interview Prep, communication and body language
Day 5
Departmental Job Trial Interviews
- Prep for interviews
- Scheduled Interviews with departments (11:30-12:30)
- Send thank you email to interviewers
Week 2 - Trainee Onboarding
Day 6
- Clock in and out
- Team building
- Career Quiz
- Personal Goal Setting
Day 7
- Community Volunteer Experience
- Clock in and out
- Team Building
- Task Initiation
- Avoiding distractions at work
Day 8
- Community Volunteer Experience
- Clock in and out
- Team Building Activity
- Resumes
Day 9
- Time Management
- Supervisor Emails
- Thank them for the opportunity
- Confirm job trial details in advance of the start date
Day 10
- Review of each previous day and materials
- Practice with arrival and departure to and from department location
- Outstanding questions/ concerns and discussion
Weeks 3-18 - Immersive Job Trial
- Participate in immersive Job Trial
- Clinical customer services
- Hospital administration
- Environmental services
- Pediatric and family support services
- Actively engaging in job tasks with fading staff support
- Participating in departmental meetings and trainings, as appropriate
- Adding new job responsibilities throughout to increase capacity
- Meeting regularly with trainee supervisor for feedback
- Coaching sessions with Employment Training Specialist to further skill development
Week 19 - Workforce Preparations
Day 1
- Evaluating Job Trial Experience
- Taking Inventory of New Skills
- Thanking Job Trial Supervisor (Write Email)
- Reviewing Next Steps
Day 2
- Updating/Creating Resume
- Applications
- Cover Letters
- References
Day 3
- Interests/Skills Profile
- Setting Job Search Goals
- Creating job board profiles
- Career Exploration
Day 4
- Informational Interviews: How/Why
- Practicing an Informational Interview
- Career Exploration/Apply to Jobs
- Informational Interviews with local businesses
Day 5
- Job Interviews Review
- Mock Job interview
- Career Exploration/Apply to Jobs
- Schedule Informational Interviews
Week 20 - Workforce Preparation
Days 6-9
Exit/Feedback Meetings scheduled days 6-9 based on team availability
- Career Exploration
- Individualized job development
- Apply to jobs of interest
- Informational Interviews
Day 10
Program Wrap Up
- Informational Interviews
- Persistence in Job Search
- Importance of a Positive Attitude
