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Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Vocational Evaluation and Situational Assessment
These services are designed to assess the vocational capabilities of persons with mental, cognitive, and/or physical disabilities. Standardized tests, Center-based work samples, and community work settings are used to identify clients' skills, strengths, and interests. Specific recommendations are made on the kinds of jobs that a person can perform, or on alternative services to be utilized for those not ready to return to work. For individuals who are uncertain of what directions to pursue, the Center also offers a career exploration program. Individuals learn to analyze their own work and career values, and to develop specific vocational goals. This is accomplished through classroom activities, films, and community activities, including tours of local businesses, job shadowing, and job try-outs.
Work Adjustment
A prerequisite to any training program or employment is the development of competitive work habits and attitudes. A work adjustment program provides intensive vocational counseling and general work experience that focus on each individual's success. The agency's work center and work sites in the community are used to develop clients' work habits and productivity. Individual programs are jointly developed by the client, Center staff, and the referring counselor, consistent with the client's unique abilities, needs, priorities, resources, and employment objective.
Skill Training
The objective of the Center's skill training programs is to enable individuals with disabilities to achieve optimal levels of performance based on the requirements and competencies needed for a specific job family. The Center provides classroom and hands-on training in vocation specific techniques, methods, equipment, materials, and tools, in accordance with local placement opportunities.
Job Placement and Development
There are several components to the Center's placement services, all of which are designed to meet the client's immediate and long-term vocational goals. "Job ready" clients may participate in a job seeking skills training program, which teaches them how to market themselves when looking for work. Intensive classroom training focuses on the development of job resumes, application writing skills, interview skills and how to pursue job leads effectively. Job Placement Specialists then work closely with each individual, carefully matching his/her specific skills and strengths to a particular job or a targeted employer in the community. Once an individual has been placed in a job, placement staff follow up with both the client and the employer. Based on the needs of the situation, contact can be extended indefinitely. This kind of approach assures employment success and employer satisfaction. In addition to these generic placement and employment support services, the Center operates a program targeted to individuals with chronic mental illness. With funding from the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, this program assists clients to obtain and retain competitive employment.
Supported Education
For some individuals with disabilities, post-secondary education or training may be needed to achieve a vocational goal. Easter Seals Greater Hartford Rehabilitation Center assists these individuals through its supported education program. Vocational specialists collaborate with and support the client in all aspects of his/her education and training, including program and course selection, finances, tutoring, crisis management, and classroom accommodations. With funding from the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Center also operates a similar program targeted to individuals with chronic mental illness.
 The school-to-work program is designed for students with disabilities who are approximately 15 - 21 years old. The Center's school-to-work transition services are designed to develop and integrate their functional, academic, vocational, and community living skills. Young adults with developmental disabilities receive a combination of Center-based work experience, community-based work, and community integration activities. The program's long range objective is to assist students in obtaining employment upon graduation. Learn more.
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