Beginning of Supported Employment Service: 2002

The supported employment service of CEOM serves more than 50 people who work in regular companies. They have the support of a team of 5 job coaches, a trainer, a counselor, a business prospector, and a director of the employment service.

It is a service focused on each person, on their abilities, and interests, so job offers that match the job seeker’s profile are always sought.

The first phase is job orientation, where the person’s abilities and needs are assessed. After the orientation, the steps to follow are established. At CEOM, they work with four insertion pathways:

1) Preparation for public service exams
2) Supported employment insertion
3) Personalized employment insertion
4) Insertion in CSE (Special Employment Centers)

Sometimes, an intermediate stage of working in a special employment center is proposed. Once the itinerary is set, accompanying and training actions are established.

Business prospecting is closely linked to supported employment. The prospecting manager visits companies with two or three candidates in mind, whom she or he knows well and who have a suitable profile for working in the company. To build loyalty with companies, they act transparently and convey trust. They accompany the person with a disability throughout the process, from the job interview until the person is hired. The job coach takes a more punctual follow-up when the hired person already masters their job and is integrated into the company. Job coaches visit the companies beforehand and analyze their needs that can be met by a person with intellectual disabilities.

In the supported employment service, they strongly promote natural supports, collaboration between coworkers with and without disabilities.
With some companies, we manage to generate inclusion synergies to incorporate people with intense support needs through the personalized employment methodology, which is a more advanced step in labor inclusion. It draws from the methodology of life plans and natural support networks, which must be stronger in personalized employment.

Job coaches or mentors are in the companies only as long as necessary. The role of the job coach is mediation, trying not to interfere with direct relationships and autonomy, avoiding creating dependency situations.

COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES

Before a person starts to work or during the accompaniment in the company, CEOM offers the following training activities:

• Driver’s license preparation with syllabus adapted in easy reading.
• Training workshops on work skills: personal image, punctuality, responsibility, conflict resolution, etc.
• Training internships in companies.

SECTORS WITH THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF INCLUSION

The supported employment service has established agreements with companies in all sectors: offices, commerce, access control, maintenance, cleaning, health and social care, etc.

SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS AND COMPANY MANAGERS OPINIONS

We help business managers to discover which tasks can be performed by our candidates (job coach). When approaching companies, it is important to do so as collaborators who can contribute a lot, not as seekers of help as we did in the beginning (job coach). We try to offer companies the added value that the people we support bring.

We teach by doing, working alongside the person with functional diversity, as just another worker (job coach). It has been a very good experience. Colleagues have a very good relationship with the hired people with disabilities. They have created a good atmosphere (business owner).

The hardest part was getting started, paving the way, but once you start with the methodology, inclusion becomes easier. At first, it was hard for us to see because our company is a chemical plant, and it seemed dangerous to us, but now with the help of the job coaches, we see which positions in the company are suitable for the profile of the people trained at CEOM.

PEOPLE HIRED THROUGH SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT OPINIONS

I feel that they have helped me a lot to be here. What I like most about my job is dealing with my colleagues. The job coaches have been with me from the beginning and have been a great help. Thanks to them (the job coaches) I am here. They answer any questions I have. They are available 24 hours a day on their cell phones. Thanks to them I am finding it easier to adapt to the schedule as well. I have learned, for example, to separate my personal and professional life, which was difficult for me before.