I work with young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities / autism at The Arc of Luzerne County - who are graduating a work readiness program at Luzerne County Community College. Would you please take a moment to sign their graduation card? Your support will mean so much to them! It just takes a second, then please pass it on TYVM!
TRACE provides customized life and employability skills training, career exploration and mentoring, and a supervised experiential learning work apprenticeship related to aptitudes, career goals and skill development of the individual, and work/life balance programming in the community.
The purpose of the program is to successfully transition individuals with I/DD who want to work from day programs, sheltered work environments, schools and common home and institutional activities to the modern demands of today's results-oriented workplace where customers, clients, and performance drive the bottom line.
Objectives
- Program graduates prepared to enter the workforce as competitive job candidates
- Increase opportunities for community based employment for people with I/DD
- Positive catalyst for individuals to reach their full potential
- A comprehensive coalition of workforce development, training and service provider agencies partnered with employers who support diversity in the workplace
Students learn about their personalities, character, natural aptitudes and developmental opportunities, as they apply to personal and professional goals through personality, interest, aptitude and ability inventories and a variety of other assessments to create self-awareness and aid in career exploration and individual career development plans. They learn how to manage diverse working relationships successfully, understand the impact of personal behavior in the workplace and build the self-confidence and soft skills essential to set them up for success in a professional environment. Students gain experiential learning through apprenticeships in area companies based on their career plan goals.
Training in adult life skills assists students in decision making, self-care and helps to prepare them emotionally for a mainstream community based work experience, financial responsibility, and how to manage change and work/life balance. Individuals work toward developing digital and financial literacy throughout the program.
The campus experience provides the wide variety of environments and laboratories needed to provide a rich comprehensive set of experiences and learning opportunities to students, to include providing a blended setting alongside traditional students who are also preparing for their entry or re-entry into the workforce. This allows for socialization opportunities through the various well planned and frequent events, breaks and meals held in the student center.
Hosting the learning components of the program at the college provides students with affiliation to an institute of higher education and adds a certificate of achievement to their portfolio of educational and life experiences.
Developmental Topics Include:
- Understanding employer expectations
- Workplace Protocol
- Non-harassment training
- Telephone courtesy and internal/external customer service
- Communicating with people
- Decision making & problem solving
- Attitude in the workplace
- Team building
- Conflict resolution
- Ethics & values
- Time management
- Managing change
- Stress management
- Financial literacy / personal budgeting
- Resume preparation
- Interview skills
- Hygiene & grooming
- Workplace attire
- Basic first aid
- Personal / workplace safety
- Digital literacy / introduction to personal computers, Internet and data entry
P.S. Sorry these pesky critters keep showing up in my posts... someday I'll find a can of RAID.
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