Workforce Development Programs
Descriptions & Funding of Fee-for-Service Programs
Situational Assessment - Provides the opportunity for clients to experience a vocation in a work site in the community. Assessments are 5-10 days and participant is paid an hourly wage during the assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to determine skills, abilities, work behaviors, barriers to employment, and motivation. A Job Coach is on hand for the duration of the assessment to assist the clients with learning the job and to collect data.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Work Adjustment Training - Provides work experience for people with disabilities. Participants work in the Goodwill stores to increase their skills and learn appropriate work behaviors. Typically, participants will be in the program for three months.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Supported Employment - The program assists severely disabled individuals in finding competitive jobs and provides the training and ongoing support necessary to insure success. The program serves persons with severe disabilities including developmental disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries. After a job match is identified, a Job Coach provides one-to-one training at the job site. Support services and monitoring of the client's performance are provided for the duration of employment.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Inclusion Grants - Napa & Sonoma - The purpose of the program is to provide inclusive services through the One Stop Centers in Napa and Santa Rosa . Participants have an array of services from which to choose including vocational assessment; job development; on the job coaching; job placement services; work experience, on the job training and job retention services. Participants are referred by counselors at the One Stop Centers.
Funded by : Department of Social Services
Independent Living Skills - ILS - Provides participants with the opportunity to receive training in skills that will increase their ability to live independently. ILS is designed as short term assistance provided to a client in achieving a specific goal, and ends when that goal is achieved. Typical training areas include mobility training, cooking, money management, house cleaning, personal hygiene, etc.
Funded by : Redwood Coast Regional Center
Employment Services / Ready-to-Work - Provides intensive individualized services for persons who have multiple barriers to employment. Services focus on job seeking and retention skills.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Mendocino DSS Contract - Provides work experience, job development, job placement and retention services for people referred through the Mendocino County Department of Social Services. Participants are provided with one to one service to develop their resume, learn interviewing skills, placement leads, and retention services.
Funded by : Department of Social Services
North County Detention Facility - NCDF - Provides job readiness skills, over an 8-week period, to participants who are incarcerated. Participants learn the basics about all aspects of the job search including but not limited to: writing a resume, networking strategies, interviewing skills, employer expectations, and budgeting.
Funded by : Sonoma County Sheriff's Dept.
Ticket to Work - Provides a choice of employment activities for people with disabilities rather than the standard Department of Rehabilitation services. Participants can choose from a menu of services that include: assessment, job readiness skills, job development services, placement, and retention services.
Funded by : US Social Security Administration
Job Coaching - This is part of an array of services provided to participants (referred by the Department of Rehabilitation) when they obtain a job in the community and are in need of job coaching to learn and sustain the employment. A job coach works directly with the participant to assist in learning the employer's expectations and the skills needed to perform their job duties. Services are provided on an as needed basis, and most are time-limited.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Personal Vocational and Social Adjustment - PVSA - This program is designed to maximize a client's independent vocational functioning, by providing training in behaviors and personal and social skills essential to success in the workplace. Program length depends upon the number of areas being addressed and the learning rate of the participant. Individualized training is used to address barriers to employment such as: interpersonal and communication skills, dress and grooming skills, money management, organizational skills, self-control strategies, problem-solving skills, and mobility.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Career Exploration / Labor Market Surveys - This program is designed to assist participants to search out occupations of interest to determine the feasibility of pursuing the occupation. Clients are provided an opportunity to do a computer search. In addition, job shadowing and informational interviewing is encouraged routinely. The length of the program is dependent on the needs of the client and the amount of occupational information available for the given occupation.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Career Skills Assessment Group - CSAG - This is an assessment group training that gives participants an opportunity to identify their personal work priorities, skills, needs, and vocational goal. Department of Rehabilitation will use the information gathered to develop the individual's Vocational Plan.
Funded by : Department of Rehabilitation
Development of Fee-for-Service Programs
Before a Fee-for-Service program can accept referrals, the program's staffing and infrastructure must first be in place. This involves the following steps:
- Hire appropriately qualified staff.
- Train the staff in the specifics of the program.
- The newly hired and trained staff must meet with the funding source's counselors, and must begin to develop a relationship of trust and respect with them. The funding source's counselors will not make referrals to a GIRE staff member that they do not know and trust.
- All of the above steps must be completed before a funding source's counselors will even consider sending a participant to one of our programs.
GIRE's Fee-for-Service programs are completely dependent on referrals from the funding sources. Once GIRE receives a referral to a Fee-for-Service program, the services are provided to the participant in accordance with the provisions dictated by the funding source in the referral. GIRE can only be reimbursed for services that are specifically authorized by the referral documents.
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