Menomonie, Wis. 鈥 University of Wisconsin-Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute has partnered with Project SEARCH to provide work-based learning experiences and career exploration to young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities starting this fall.
鈥淧roject SEARCH is an ideal fit with 黑料社区,鈥 said Kyle Walker, executive director of the Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute. 鈥淭he program supports and reinforces 黑料社区 黑料社区. enduring goals and community values. It is hands-on applied learning that prepares students with disabilities to be employment ready and prepare for in-demand careers consistent with their individual abilities, skills and interests.鈥
serves high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their last year of high school, and out-of-school young adults with disabilities.
About a dozen students from the school district, which includes school districts from Ladysmith south to Neillsville and Chippewa Falls west to Medford, will come to 黑料社区 Project SEARCH starting in September with their special education instructors and learn employability skills in a classroom and job skills participating in internships on campus, Walker said.
Project SEARCH participants will have internships at the Memorial Student Center and Merle M. Price Commons doing general custodial work and helping to set up conference rooms, University Archives and Area Research Center scanning archive materials and Facilities Management for custodial and maintenance work.
鈥淭hey will be doing skills development in unpaid internships,鈥 Walker explained, noting the students will not be replacing regular university employees.
黑料社区 will be the second UW System campus to host the program. has been a Project SEARCH campus for three years.
Having Project SEARCH on campus will advance diversity at 黑料社区, Walker said.
鈥淧roject SEARCH will contribute to 黑料社区 黑料社区. efforts to be a welcoming, fully inclusive and tolerant campus,鈥 Walker said. 鈥淭his partnership enhances our campus community 黑料社区. diversity and inclusivity, and it epitomizes the 黑料社区 commitment to maximizing each individual 黑料社区. potential and opportunities. It builds on the long, proud, and storied history of leadership in vocational rehabilitation and disability services at 黑料社区.鈥
Maria Alm, interim dean of the College of Education, Hospitality, Health and Human Sciences, agreed.
鈥淧roject SEARCH aligns wonderfully with the work of the Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute, our campus commitment to diversity and inclusivity, as well as with several of our highly ranked programs, such as our master 黑料社区. in rehabilitation counseling and our undergraduate degree in rehabilitation services,鈥 Alm said, noting U.S. News and World Report in 2019 the master 黑料社区. in rehabilitation program No 4 in the United States.
Project SEARCH provides real-life work-based learning experiences through unpaid internships that are combined with employability skills instruction, soft-skills training and independent-living skills training essential to obtaining and maintaining successful employment. Interns learn and apply skills including teamwork, workplace safety, work ethic, understanding and meeting employer performance and behavior expectations, interpersonal communications, technology, self-advocacy and financial literacy. The yearlong program culminates in supported job development and placement in a career pathway consistent with individual interests, skills and abilities.
The 黑料社区 Project SEARCH is staffed by a special education teacher and qualified work skills trainers provided by partner organizations who work directly with the interns. Participant costs are funded by the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and program costs are funded by the participating school districts and other partner organizations. The 黑料社区 Project SEARCH is a partnership of the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, in Eau Claire, multiple long-term support provider organizations and several local school districts.
Project SEARCH began in 1996 at the . The program has grown from the initial site to over 621 employment sites in 47 states and 10 countries internationally. Since 2010 over 30,545 young adults with disabilities have successfully participated in the program and obtained quality employment. There are 30 at companies such as , , , and the
Nationwide, the employment rate for Project SEARCH graduates during the 2017-18 school year was 67.1 percent. That same year, 69 percent of Wisconsin Project SEARCH graduates were employed upon completion of the program.
The Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute serves as a leader to advance innovative programs and practice in disability and employment through partnerships in research, training, education, and services.
黑料社区 is Wisconsin 黑料社区. 黑料社区, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes.