| Work & Economic Opportunities
 The Polus Center provides socio-economic rehabilitation opportunities
for people with disabilities and their families through a variety of individualized
supports, including vocational planning, self employment mini- grants, assistance
with obtaining competitive employment and meaningful community work, and trainings
for employers, people with disabilities, and human service providers.
Why focus on work?
Working is highly valued in our society. It often defines
who we are (e.g. "What
do you do?"). It has an enormous influence on how we spend our time, which
people we associate and develop relationships with, and our standard of living.
Working in a job well suited to our interests and skills provides us with opportunities
to grow, learn and contribute to society. Work provides us with a certain amount
of status and is part of being an adult in our culture.
People with developmental disabilities who are often perceived
as being "eternal
children" can especially benefit from the highly valued adult roles of being
workers and tax payers.
Providing an artificial limb or a place to live is only the first step toward
the goal of enabling reintegration into community life. Landmine survivors and
other people with disabilities often identify the need for employment as a more
pressing concern than procuring an artificial limb. Like anyone, people with
disabilities want to identify and develop their talents, and make a living doing
work that satisfies and challenges them.
From a business perspective, despite short-term unemployment statistics, astute
business leaders know that there is and will be an increasing demand for workers
(in North Central MA there are a projected need for nearly 1.1 million workers
to replace people who retire, change industries or change occupations) 1 and that
winning the war for talent and having a pipeline of qualified workers is their
competitive advantage. 2 Hiring managers recognize that they can no longer meet
staffing needs through traditional means. As potential employers seek alternative
recruitment sources, there is new demand for people seeking employment who traditionally
have been overlooked. People with disabilities represent the single largest minority
group seeking employment in today's market. 3
There are many compelling business reasons to hire people with disabilities,
who because of the challenges they have had to overcome, often possess valuable
problem-solving skills and have consistently proven to be dependable, dedicated,
hardworking and productive employees. 4 Research shows that people with disabilities
have lower rates of turnover and absenteeism and 70% of workplace accommodations
can be made for less than $500. The ingenuity and problem solving skills of people
who spend their lives adapting to challenges in their environment can be valuable
assets that contribute to high productivity in the workplace. Companies that
institute mentoring, apprenticeship and internship programs learn firsthand how
people with disabilities can contribute. Businesses discover that working and
interacting with employees with disabilities raises morale, and positive experiences
dispel the fears that employers have about giving people with disabilities a
chance to be full-time employees.
Yet throughout the United States, unemployment rates among people with disabilities
often exceed 80% and are even significantly higher among the severely disabled
and for people in developing countries. Initiatives for economic reintegration
of people with disabilities are even more difficult in the current economic context.
Nonetheless, disabled persons should not but do face additional attitudinal barriers
due to their impairment in finding employment.
Even when survivors are able to regain mobility and secure
employment, they are subjected to the cultural and social stigmas accompanying
the label of being a person with a disability. Once identified as "disabled," people are
cast into a variety of negative roles that can be as devastating as stepping
on a landmine or suffering limb loss. They are often seen as objects of pity
and charity, a burden or menace to others, or viewed as "sick" and
unemployable.
Return to top
Typical models of employment vs. the Polus Center approach
 People with disabilities face many challenges beyond those imposed by the
disability itself. Often denied opportunities to participate fully as valued
members of the community, many people with disabilities have been relegated to
live and work in congregated and segregated settings which reinforce negative
stereotypes about them. Such settings also tend to limit people's ability to
experience the challenges and joys of community life.
A key to shifting the paradigm of support for people with disabilities from
congregated, segregated facility-based day services to integrated industry based
competitive employment is to focus on youth with disabilities, connect them to
existing career services, and present them with a range of employment opportunities,
including apprenticeships and self employment.
The Polus Center approach
The Polus Center has years of experience developing best practices for economic
reintegration through community-based, individualized services for people with
disabilities. As with everything else we do, we start with people first, and
find customized solutions that clearly address a person's needs, interests, and
talents.
We work in partnership with career service organizations such
as the Workforce
Investment Board system, private career counselors,
and community and business leaders such as local Chambers of Commerce to help
people with disabilities to find, retain, and prosper in meaningful, valued jobs
that will help them become full participants in their communities and economically
support themselves and their families.
Beyond job coaching
 The Polus Center has been supporting people in Boston with
severe impairments through supported employment for over twenty years, allowing
them the opportunity to work and to have valued social and economic roles within
their communities. This type of vocational program focuses on individual supports
and utilizes a "place
and train" vocational employment model. Over the years this program model
has enabled people to find meaning employment and to attain valued social and
economic roles within their communities.
Supported employment encourages people to work within their communities and
encourages interaction, and integration. Training is provided on the job site
by a job coach, who assists the employee in learning and performing the job and
adjusting to the work environment. As the employee gains skills and confidence,
the job coach gradually spends less time at the worksite. The job coach remains
available for retraining for new assignments, assisting in dealing with challenging
behaviors, supplying periodic consultations with co-workers and supervisors,
and conducting periodic check-ins. 5
Yet we also recognize that the overuse of a paid job coach may create a dependency
that is unaffordable and unsustainable. There is a need to broaden our perspectives
further, from agency-mediated supports to business supports such as coworker
mentoring, workplace education and possible job restructuring, and outreach to
families and friends who know the person and can tap into their own informal
networks. The Polus Center continues to expand upon our years of experience and
thinking about vocational services and employ a variety of methods to help people
with disabilities attain jobs.
The role of the job coach has expanded to include training
of coworkers and family members so that the employee creates a "circle of support" to
assist him/her to pursue the kind of work and training that best fits. The individual
placement model of competitive employment has expanded to emphasize more use
of natural supports (those typically available to all workers in the workplace),
and a more "customer-driven" and customized approach where the individual
with a significant disability and his or her family members become active participants
in the process. 6 Engaging co-workers and supervisors in building an inclusive
workplace and providing the person with the assistance he/she may need lessens
dependency on the paid human services staff and decreases the image that a person
with a disability must be treated differently in the workplace.
For more information see Landmine
Victim Assistance Progress, Challenges and Best Practices by Michael Lundquist
[ Polus Center for Social & Economic Development, Inc.
Return to top
 Commonwealth
Business Associates
Commonwealth
Business Associates (CBA) is a small community based organization in Boston that
supports adults with disabilities to find and maintain meaningful and valued
work roles in the community. CBA provides individualized supports that are effective
in assisting individuals to secure employment and to build their careers. CBA
is committed to building relationships and providing education in the community
to develop opportunities that support these objectives. More
information about CBA »
Return to top
Mini grants and small business opportunities in Latin America and Massachusetts
 Small development grants have been successful in helping
landmine victims make improvements to their farms or start other small businesses
in order to increase their income. The Polus Center's approach always begins
with a clear assessment with the landmine victims (including not only the survivor
but often members of his or her family and community as well), to identify opportunities
and to assess what the best individualized solution will be. Many times this
means help with small investments that assist the victim in becoming self sufficient.
This may include seeds or irrigation equipment for farmers, stock for a small "pulperia" (neighborhood
store), or equipment such as sewing machines or farming equipment. Some recent
examples include:
- New equipment and tables/chairs for a cyber-café
- A corn milling machine
that supports an entire community and provides ongoing income for the machine
owner
- Set-up for a shoe repair and leather business
- Small family-run stores (“pulperias”)
- Help for farmers through
livestock, planting, irrigation equipment, help going organic
In Massachusetts,
in addition to Commonwealth Business Associates,
we support people in Worcester and the North Shore to run their own businesses
or to create a career plan that includes a variety of freelance opportunities,
such as working at a local cable TV station, running an office support business,
and videotaping business. We start with a planning session to determine interests
and needs. If a small business is determined to be the best fit, we help with
business planning and with initial start-up assistance.
Return to top
Employment for Youth with Disabilities
 Young adults who have disabilities, like most of their age group peers, need
skills and experience to qualify them to do the work they want to do. Employers
often complain that new hires lack essential workplace skills such as a positive
work ethic and attitude, professional appearance, teamwork and time management.
Though many students enrolled in regular education programs and
School to Career activities receive some of this training as part of their typical
curriculum, students with disabilities attending special education programs are
often left out of these initiatives, and could benefit from a refresher even
if they had been exposed to these concepts once during their school experience.
With a little assistance people with disabilities can apply what
they learn from these integrated programs and learn to present themselves in
the best way to potential employers throughout their careers.
This year the Polus Center, working with local businesses, the
Clinton school system, and the town of Clinton, partnered with the North Central
Massachusetts Career Center to offer 21 vulnerable youth ages 16-24 in the Clinton
area competitive employment throughout the summer and after-school throughout
the fall and winter. The Polus Center employs several of these youth in our business
office. Chief Operating Officer Theresa Kane chairs the North
Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board, giving the
Polus Center partnerships and insights into opportunities and funding sources.
Return to top
Training for Employers
 Engaging co-workers and supervisors in how to build an inclusive workplace
creates natural supports and provides people with disabilities assistance they
may need to fully succeed in their job assignment, lessening dependency on paid
human services staff, and decreasing the image that a person with a disability
must be treated differently in the workplace.
A recent report named bias or lack of training for managers
as likely explanations for the reduction of disabled employees working in the
federal government. "Unfounded
fears, myths and stereotypes persist regarding the employment of people with
disabilities." 7
Educational programs can raise awareness and help reduce
discrimination and stigma that are barriers to a disabled person's ability to
attain valued social and economic roles.
The Polus Center strives to raise awareness about the issues faced by people
with disabilities and how and why business leaders can integrate them into the
workforce. We are in the process of designing and sponsoring an Employing People
with Disabilities conference for the summer of 2010 to share best practices and
plan sustainable strategies for maintaining competitive employment for people
with disabilities throughout the region. Watch for more information!
Return to top
Career Planning Services
The first step in assisting an individual to identify vocational
options is the "discovery process." This entails a lengthy analysis
of who the person is, what the person needs and what kind of work is best suited
for him or her.
Person Centered Planning is a process that can effectively help the individual
and his/her support team discover the person's unique gifts, needs and potential
for work. A facilitator leads the group in a lengthy and thorough discussion
regarding the person's history, gifts, challenges, relationships and needs. A
vision for the person is outlined and the components of an ideal job for the
person are listed. Included in this description are the type of job, social aspects
of the job, location, schedule, transportation, possibility of advancement, etc.
Next, the group makes a plan for acquiring the job-a comprehensive list of
who will do what and what the focus person can begin working on. The group may
decide to meet on a regular basis to follow up on progress and to offer support
to the focus person.
The Polus Center's Director of Training & Development
has over 20 years experience with person centered vocational planning for people
with disabilities. COO Theresa Kane is the co-author of Career Coaching Your
Kids, and has facilitated career development workshops for many years. She was
recently certified to be a main facilitator for the Seven
Prism program that helps people at all stages
of their careers assess not only their career aspirations but in thinking through
all aspects of their lives.
Return to top
1. Regional LMI Annual Profile for North Central Mass Workforce
Area, March 2008.
2. The War for Talent. Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, Beth
Axelrod, Harvard Business Press, 2001.
3. Disability Employment 101. U.S. Department
of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, August
2007.
4. Disability Employment 101. August 2007. U.S. Department of Education
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
5. From Department of
Labor definition of Supported Employment.
6. Valerie Brooke, Katherine J. Inge,
Amy J. Armstrong & Paul
Wehman, Supported Employment: A customer-Driven Approach for Persons with Significant
Disabilities.
7. A Troublesome Decline in Disability Hiring, By Stephen Barr,
Federal Diary, Thursday, January 17, 2008; Page D04.
|
