Jessica Duncan makes that quite clear to her students.

As skills trainer for Project SEARCH at UPMC Jameson, Duncan is guiding the first class of five interns through the program designed to assist those with mental and physical disabilities in attaining marketable job skills.

“We integrate them into the workforce and help them with the skills they’ll need to transition from school to work and be self-sufficient,” Duncan explained.

A yearlong internship program, Project SEARCH is designed for students ages 18 to 21 who are currently seniors in high school. By law, students with diagnosed mental or physical disabilities can remain in high school until age 21.

Targeted toward those who will be seeking competitive employment upon graduation, Project SEARCH began in 1996 at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Currently, the international program has more than 500 training sites including those at four UPMC facilities, Passavant and Mercy in Pittsburgh, Hamot in Erie and New Castle’s Jameson.

“What these students bring … they are the most delightful employees, so excited and dedicated,” noted Eric McIntosh, vice president of human resources for UPMC, which has participated in Project SEARCH for about a decade. “These people have made an impact and are part of the fabric of our organization.”

SEARCH HISTORY

All Project SEARCH programs require a partnership between schools, employers and organizations, both public and private, that work with individuals with disabilities.

Locally, Jameson partnered with the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, which obtained the funding for the program; Lawrence County Mental Health and Developmental Services; Cray Youth and Family Services, which provides the program’s instructor, Erika Grove; and Vocational and Psychological Services, which, along with the agency’s owners, Dr. Julie Uran and Dr. Martin Meyer, employs Duncan as skills trainer.

Also aiding Project SEARCH was the New Castle Area School District, which provided Chromebooks for the interns’ use. Open to all qualifying local students, Project SEARCH’s current class members come from the New Castle, Shenango, Union and Wilmington school districts.

“The key to the program’s success is the collaboration. As the business host, (Jameson) has been incredibly welcoming,” noted John Grim, program manager for Vocational and Psychological Services, relating that he saw one of the interns eating lunch in the hospital cafeteria with employees from four different departments.

“We can’t walk down the hall with the interns without people stopping to say ‘hi’ or give them a high-five,” Duncan added.

“They’ve really become the stars of the hospital,” noted Cyndee Adamo, volunteer coordinator at Jameson, who along with hospital human resources consultant Kristin Rivera, serves as a business liaison for Project SEARCH.

ON THE JOB

Prior to the start of Jameson’s program in August, students interested in Project SEARCH took part in an assessment day.

Potential interns worked at various stations requiring skills similar to what they would encounter on the job. Each student was rated and those with the highest scores were invited to join Project SEARCH.

Five students – Nathan Campbell, Lydia Dean, Thomas Gennock, Danny Koziol and Chelsea Lasky – were chosen for the inaugural class with organizers hoping to have eight interns next year.

Based on a nine-month school calendar, Project SEARCH’s year-long program is divided into three, 10-week non-paid internships in several of Jameson’s departments including nutritional services, patient transport, environmental services, the emergency department, Hostess Shop and central services, which includes mail distribution, stocking of supplies and laundry.

“They’re integrated right from the start, attending new employee orientation and department meetings,” noted VPS’s Grim.

Explaining that interns also have to sign a standard employment contract, Adamo said, “They’re held to the same policies and same standards as any UPMC employee.”

Rotating through three different internships “gives them a variety of work experiences and skills” and allows trainers to see what an intern’s strengths are, noted Gail Steck, district administrator with OVR.

“But no matter where they are, they know their job is important because they’re helping people,” Grove, their instructor, added.

Intern Lydia Dean, now working in patient transport, noted in the program’s newsletter, “This position makes me feel important and part of a team that cares.”

MORE TO DO

Prior to spending approximately five hours on the job, interns begin each day with an hour-long class focusing on employability skills. At the end of the day, they return to the fifth-floor training room to reflect on their experiences, discuss challenges and evaluate progress.

There are also days set aside for field trips to potential future job sites and activities such as an email pen pal program with interns from UPMC Hamot’s Project SEARCH.

Initially transported to Jameson by their home school districts via bus, interns were expected to learn to use public transportation to get to work on time.

“It’s all about independence,” Grim said.

“I’ve seen their confidence grow daily. It’s a real internship with real, transferable skills, it’s not 13th grade,” explained Duncan who assists the students in learning each new job. “It’s trial and error and sometimes we have to substitute one skill for another, but eventually I get dismissed. It was great when one of them politely told me ‘You could go check on the other interns.'”

Steck said that building relationships with their mentors, teachers and co-workers allows the interns to be feel like equals while in school settings those with disabilities are sometimes “set aside.”

“The schools are limited in what they can provide for these students, sometimes they end up in the same life skills room for several years,” explained Don Kemerer, director of educational services with Cray. “This takes them out of the classroom and treats them as adults, which is so very important. Nothing magical happens when they turn 21, but now this helps them develop vocationally so that they’re truly an adult in more ways than just age.”

THE FUTURE

When the Project SEARCH interns complete the program in June, a graduation ceremony is planned. Students may also walk in ceremonies at their home school.

Prior to graduation, interns will create a resume and an electronic Power Point portfolio. They also receive lessons in “real world” issues like budgeting and earned CPR certification as well as certificates for knowledge of various computer skills.

While some interns are hired by UPMC, the group is also taken to other potential job sites, given help with contacting potential employers and exposed to different businesses where their new skills can be utilized.

UPMC’s McIntosh noted that about 40 Project SEARCH alumni are employed by the health system including one grad at Passavant who now mentors new employees.

“The goal is to help students get a job in the community, which may or may not be at UPMC,” Steck said. “But it’s here that they get the skills that will help them find employment. It all goes back to that saying, ‘it takes a village,’ and this village has provided a wonderful opportunity for these interns.”

rgendreau@ncnewsonline.com