National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month Highlight: Employment Program Trains People with Disabilities for Real-World Jobs

March celebrates National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, since it was proclaimed by President Reagan in 1987 with the purpose of “[raising] public awareness of the needs and the potential of Americans with developmental disabilities” and to provide the “encouragement and opportunities they need to lead productive lives and to achieve their full potential.”

Navigating entry into the workforce as a young adult can be a daunting and challenging task, especially during a global pandemic. Having a disability of any sort can make that process even more difficult. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, In 2020, 17.9 percent of persons with a disability were employed, compared to the 61.8 percent of people employed who did not have a disability.

Project SEARCH is working to change that. Developed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center as a business-led, one-year work-preparation program for young people, ages 18 to 22 with developmental disabilities, it now has 600 job sites. One of them is Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, where the program is in its fifth year, and boasts a higher placement rate than the national average for Project SEARCH programs.

Participants are enrolled while transitioning from high school to work. The hallmark of Project SEARCH is total workplace immersion, which facilitates a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and hands-on training. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for every program participant.

“Project SEARCH is a transition program that believes in the potential that our young adults have. We strive on focusing all the abilities that they possess instead of pointing out what they don’t. It provides them with an opportunity to become employed and independent if they desire,” says Mildred Roldan, Employment Specialist with the Center for Independent Living in Central Florida (now known as CIL).

Young lady wearing teal scrubs and hair bet sits at a desk while performing a task with her hands. — Madison Lewis, who started in the Project SEARCH program at Lakeland Regional Health in 2020, finds great joy in having an official position as a Sterile Processing Technician.

Madison Lewis,19, and Tyler Baranowski,18, are two of the 6 current participants in Project SEARCH at Lakeland Regional Health. They both began the program in August of last year and will graduate with their classmates this April. Additionally, both have been offered full-time positions at Lakeland Regional Health as Sterile Processing Technicians- an opportunity that neither Lewis nor Baranowski had expected would happen at this point in their lives.

The hospital setting of Project SEARCH also serves as an opportunity for student participants to grow socially within the workplace setting.

Young man in teal scrubs and hair bet performs task with hands at desk. — Tyler Baranowski, 18, began his Project SEARCH journey alongside Madison and has recently accepted a position of Sterile Processing Technician at Lakeland Regional Health.

“I’m usually the quiet person that just sits and does the job; nothing more, nothing less. But after a little while, knowing the people in the departments I’ve been in, I’ve opened up and made friends and still talk to some of the people in the departments I’m not in anymore,” says Baranowski.

Sandy Perlewitz, Project SEARCH Facilitator, Polk County Public Schools, has been involved with the program at Lakeland Regional Health since its inception and has seen firsthand the impact of the program on participants: “It’s a unique, hands-on job skill training program with total immersion in the workplace environment. Sometimes the students come in with a low level of self-esteem, but they gain confidence and self-advocacy throughout the program. They learn to answer interview questions with self-assurance and learn that they have what it takes to be successful,” Perlewitz describes.

According to the staff at Lakeland Regional Health, Project SEARCH not only benefits the students but also the hospital that had welcomed the students as their own. Tiffany Hanson, Lakeland Regional Health Recruiter and Project SEARCH Coordinator notes that “…several departments value the students and the positive attitudes that they bring. They [the students] display an appreciation for the opportunity and commit to doing their best each day.”

As graduation approaches, Madison and Tyler reflect on the last seven months in the program, and the opportunities that they never envisioned for themselves:

“This has been life-changing for me,” says Lewis. “I am able to just speak up for myself… I never thought that I would have the chance to actually work a job before applying for it,” says Baranowski.

The personal and professional growth that has occurred during the program is obvious to the parents of both Madison and Tyler as well.

“In the last year I have witnessed a huge change in Madison’s attitude, organization, follow-through, and her sense of responsibility. She has matured significantly over the last several months and I feel she will take the lessons she has learned throughout this program and continue to apply them to many areas of her life, especially in the workforce,” says Laura Lewis, mother of Madison.

“He is feeling more confident about his future. He has discovered career paths that he didn’t know were possible,” adds Tyler’s mother, Lori Baranowski.

CIL currently oversees 2 Project SEARCH sites in Central Florida with plans to expand to a third site by Fall of 2021. As Project SEARCH grows and finds new homes in Florida communities, more young adults like Madison and Tyler will discover their potential in the workforce.