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Vocational Evaluation
Competitive Employment
Workshop Employment
Community Work Crews
Youth Services
Older Adult Daily Living Center
After Work Program

VOCATIONAL EVALUATION
The initial step for most individuals entering our programs is a vocational evaluation to determine your needs and our ability to meet them.  The evaluation is scheduled after the intake interview and can last from 5 to 20 days. During this time we will assess your interests, aptitudes, achievement levels, work behaviors and skills. We will use standardized tests, work samples and production tasks in the workshop or participation on a community work crew.  When the evaluation has been completed, we will meet with you and your team members to discuss the results. Our Vocational Evaluator will forward a written report to your referral source and anyone else authorized to receive a copy. For more information on Vocational Evaluations please contact Fred Stabene at 610-384-6990 extension 231 or fred.stabene@handi-crafters.org

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Competitive Employment
We can help you find steady employment in the competitive workplace with our Job Finding, Job Support and Transitional Employment services.

Job Finding - we can explain your employment options and help you find a job. Our services include job search activities, resume preparation, advice on how to conduct yourself at an interview, job coaching and follow-up.

Job Support - after you've found a job, one of our Employment Specialists will stay in touch with you and make sure you get the necessary training and guidance to master it.

Transitional Employment - our Community Work Crew Program is one component of Transitional Employment. This offers individuals transitional opportunities in competitive business settings. A team of trained workers, accompanied by a Staff Supervisor, performs various assignments such as janitorial, clerical and light industrial services at local businesses. These assignments provide our workers with another step in their move to independence.

We take referrals from a variety of Chester County agencies and the Norristown District Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Handi-Crafters also has contracts with Pennsylvania Industries for the Blind and Handicapped (PIBH) to complete work for the Commonwealth under its state use laws.  For more information please contact Christine Broome at 610-384-6990 x210 or chris.broome@handi-crafters.org

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Workshop Employment
Most individuals who come to Handi-Crafters have had little or no work experience. Here they are given the opportunity to learn and acquire good work skills through on-the-job training as they compensate and adapt around their disability. Over 300 people are employed in our workshops. They perform production service work for businesses.

Our workshops can provide you with a range of work experiences. We complete jobs which involve packaging, assembling, heat sealing, collating, and non-industrial assembly. Opportunities are also available for qualified individuals to operate a variety of industrial machinery. Basic safety instruction is an integral part of our work program. Most of our jobs are paid at piece rate. Some of the more specialized work is paid by the hour. Paychecks are issued every other Friday.

Our goal is to provide a safe and secure work environment that allows each individual to develop a worker profile to acquire the skills necessary for success in the competitive job market. Some individuals reach their work potential in the workshop while others go on to seek employment in the community.

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Community Work Crews
Work crew job training is an important service that equips our clients with the skills they need to succeed in the workplace. Community work crews offer opportunities for experience off-site doing janitorial and light industrial work.  Last year we employed over 80 people on our community work crews in housekeeping and light assembly for local business and government.  For more information on our community work crews please contact Christine Broome at 610-384-6990 x210 or chris.broome@handi-crafters.org

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Youth Services
We provide three programs that address the needs of persons under the age of 22.  They are as follows:

Our School-to-Work program is designed to provide high school-aged students with an IEP (Individualized Education Program) transition into the workplace.  Through a vocational evaluation by our licensed psychologist and work done by the student in our workshop, the employment potential of the student is enhanced and assessed.  In the workshop students develop vocational and employability skills that help them to successfully transition from school to work.  If appropriate, students can also progress to participating in transitional work crews in the community.  Students are paid at piece rate for the work they do in the workshop and at an hourly rate for community work crew.  In addition, at the request of the school district, we can provide job development and job coaching.  The School-to-Work program is funded by school districts, the Chester County Intermediate Unit or county programs.

The ESY (Extended School Year) program helps students (age 14 to 21) maintain and increase the vocational skills they acquire during the school year.  Program activities and dates are customized to meet the mandates of the individual student’s IEP.  ESY draws from a full range of career advancement activities, which may include the workshop experience, career guidance, job-related field trips/activities and vocational evaluations.

“The TEAM (Training, Education, Accountability, Mentoring) at The HOOD" is a grant funded program through the Chester County Department of Community Development.  This program serves youth up to the age of 21 years who no longer are enrolled in school.  The TEAM offers assessment, academic remediation,  job skill education/training, assistance with job searching and job coaching, all of which are individualized for the person. Participants earn monetary rewards as they progress through the program.  There are residency, income, and risk requirements for entry into the program.  Persons with a recent IEP only need to meet the residency requirement.  For more detailed information please call Chris Broome at 610-384-6990 ext. 210.  This program is located at 530 East Union Street, Suite 3, in West Chester.  For more information about The HOOD please contact bricethehood@live.com

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OLDER ADULT DAILY LIVING CENTER
As Handi-Crafters has grown, we recognized the need for individuals who wished to stop working to have a program in place that would allow them to retire, but remain engaged and active.  The new Bentley Center has made this possible.  Our Older Adult Daily Living Center is designed to provide meaningful activities for adults with disabilities who are 60 years of age or older and/or for individuals who have been diagnosed with dementia or related illness who wish to retire from their employment program.  The program has a 7 to 1 staff-to-participant ratio which gives an opportunity for close bonds to be established.  The staff includes a director, activities coordinator and activities aides, who are well trained, with backgrounds in therapeutic recreation, education, health care and other relevant experiences.  For more information please contact Lisa Cozzone, Director of the OADLC, at 610-384-6990 x359 or lisa.cozzone@handi-crafters.org

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After Work Program
Each Thursday after work, about 50 of the clients from our day program gather in one of two groups for fun and learning.  The groups are led by a team of volunteers.  Some of our volunteers are Handi-Crafters' staff who put on different hats for the afternoon, while others are from the community at-large.  Each group has five or six "helpers" as they work through the afternoon's activities.  These activities include musical sing alongs; exercising to "Chicken Fat", discovering their artistic talents, playing BINGO and many others.  Special events are planned around the holidays.  The program runs from September through June. For more information on the program, please contact Amy Rice at 610-384-6990 x205 or amy.rice@handi-crafters.org

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