Program hones job skills for grads with developmental disabilities
December 5th, 2009Project SEARCH offers hope amid massive unemployment
From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
Project SEARCH, a national job training program for young adults with developmental disabilities, is helping a dozen young adults polish their skills at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
The goal is to help the recent high school grads get long-term entry level jobs. It’s a daunting task at a time when the U.S. Census Bureau reports that more than 60 percent of people with intellectual and physical disabilities are out of work.
“There is a growing recognition, though, that individuals with disabilities have as much right to competitive jobs as anyone else, they just need the training,” said Julie Christiansen, the program’s coordinator in Rochester. She said the hospital hopes the program will help its workforce reflect the same diversity as is seen among hospital patients.
Our RSS Feed
December 9th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Providing better opportunities for recent high school graduates is wonderful. But where are advocates and programs for adults in their twenties and thirties who missed the first wave of funded interest in new graduates, who lack opportunities and long term funding necessary for vocational access? I’m not sure that parents of new graduates are considering with tenderness and compassion the situation of a slightly older generation of individuals.