Beginning of Supported Employment Service: 1994

Asindown is characterized by opening new paths to employment for people who have faced many difficulties in creating an autonomous and independent life project. They work with people with all types of intellectual disabilities, regardless of their support needs. Training and supported employment complement each other, but always with inclusive models to promote hiring in regular companies.

The association has 7 job coaches, a coordinator, and a prospector. They provide follow-up and support in the workplace to more than 150 people hired through supported employment. The contracts are for at least 20 hours, except in very exceptional cases where shorter first-time experiences are allowed. They pursue quality within the workplace, permanent contracts that are related to the offered training and the interests of the hired individuals.

There are training groups where people with intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to pursue vocational training (FP) in administrative assistance. They also have groups for training in job skills.

Asindown reaches an agreement with a company that defines a profile and tasks to be performed by a person with functional diversity. Once companies propose a job offer with a job description (tasks, skills, and other job requirements), Asindown selects several candidates who meet the profile from those participating in training activities. These candidates attend a selection interview accompanied by a job coach. The company selects one of the candidates, and the inclusion process begins. Some companies participate beforehand in an inclusive agents course lasting between 4 and 7 hours, aimed at the entire staff, to strengthen knowledge about people with disabilities and to facilitate the emergence of natural supports within the company, ensuring successful labor inclusion. This is a subsidized training in which people with intellectual disabilities participate as part of the training team.

Pre-employment actions include meetings with the company; prior training and awareness for colleagues of the person with a disability; meetings with the family; and prior training for the person to be hired according to the company’s demands. They also promote autonomy in commuting, with family support, if necessary.

During employment: Asindown’s job coaches accompany the person with a disability for 100% of their working hours for 3 or 4 weeks. After this period, a meeting is organized with the company to determine strengths and areas for further development. After this initial period of accompaniment aimed at learning the job and achieving autonomy, the supports are gradually withdrawn. The job coach begins to reduce the hours and days of presence until their follow-up is on a monthly basis. In this phase, when the supported person is already integrated into the company, the job coach reinforces the achievements made and maintains a monthly follow-up focused on strengthening the advances and achievements of the hired person.

Another alternative for labor inclusion that Asindown is launching is the «Eca+Lean» methodology. A good practice of Asindown that has been presented at the European Supported Employment Congress. It is aimed at people with high support needs, but by working in teams of 4 and leveraging some of their talents, they can provide great performance for the company. With the advice of a Lean consultant, the management and production processes where companies waste time are determined. Interested companies are offered strategies to improve these processes by hiring teams of 4 people with disabilities supported by a job coach in specific areas.

COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES

• La mare que va (valencian expression to show the surprise generated by some event): dual training school of cooking with incorporated work experience.
• Socio-labour skills development groups.
• Special modality vocational training: administrative assistant and data recording.
• Psychological care.
• Leisure service.
• Sports service (swimming, hiking, basketball, dance).
• Impulsa-T active aging program.
• Preparation of competitive examinations.

SECTORS WITH THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF INCLUSION

The sectors with the highest number of new hires are hospitality (kitchen and dining room assistants), administrative assistants and supermarket sales assistants.

SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS AND COMPANY MANAGERS OPINIONS

Conversation with a job coach with over 5 years of experience:

We achieve success when companies come to us because we have managed to establish a bond based on a lot of presence, much respect, and much sensitivity.

I think one of our good practices is positive reinforcement, strengthening the good things, and continuing to come to recognize well-done work.

The key to the success of job coaching is the natural treatment of the person with a disability, relating to them as just another worker. Secondly, the most important thing to me is establishing a bond of trust between the job coach, the person with a disability, and the company.

We also talk about training competencies to reinforce: it is important to know the person and understand that each person has support needs. I think self-awareness is important: recognizing the disability, but also knowing who I am. Knowing these are my strengths and fully leveraging them.

In job training, other aspects are also addressed, such as spatial organization, attention, and concentration, etc.

The success of supported employment is that the hired person ‘works alone, without us, with autonomy and the ability to make decisions, without dependence on job coaches.’

As a job coach, I am also aware of some difficulties that can arise in companies: ‘I don’t handle it well when some workers infantilize and pity colleagues with disabilities. I understand that companies need to recognize their role as people who add value. Pity is a limitation.’

As proposals for improving these services, the job coach suggests “improving company awareness. Avoid generalizations and prejudices. Understand that there is work for them”.

Conversation with a business prospector and the coordinator of Asindown’s supported employment service

«They are concerned about stability and the difficulties some entities face in providing continuous support: “Our challenge is to have sufficient support from the administration for the entities that carry out supported employment so that job coaches do not have to withdraw prematurely”.

They refer to specific needs of people with Down syndrome: «One challenge is adapting to the premature aging of people with this disability, which requires early retirement measures that are not yet contemplated«.

PEOPLE HIRED THROUGH SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT OPINIONS

Conversation wit a worker at Parc Cientific de Valencia with an administrative assistant contract since 2010, with an indefinite contract:

The mediator helped me to integrate into the company and to get to know the process better. At the beginning the trainers came to the company a lot and now they come less.

My relationship with my colleagues has improved and I know how to adapt my behavior to my work. I understand my functions better and better. I am being assigned new responsibilities.

In addition to receiving support at work, I go one day a week to a competency group where we learn about decision making, teamwork, etc. We are coached there. We get advice there.