8/15/2019
Topic:
Creating a Calendar for Success
Joy Burress
|
During the 13th Annual Conference in Anaheim an interactive session was held to share ideas and build an annual calendar of fun activities and events to enhance your Project SEARCH year! Please see the attached document highlighting the winning ideas voted on by our interactive group and images of our notes of all ideas!
Susie, Holly, Joy
P.S. Let's Chat |
8/16/2019
Topic:
Skills Trainers Roundtable Conf. 2019 Notes
Joy Burress
|
Recruitment: DISCOVERIES & INSIGHTS 
· Provide tours of the program for interested candidates & professionals
· Presentations at high schools (classrooms and teachers)
· Community meetings (parent groups)
· Social media
· Marketing at the national level
· Buy-in (from high school teachers, case managers, VR transition counselors, etc)
· Graduate testimonies
· Lunch stipend for financial hesitance
· Host annual open house (introduce instructor, skills trainers, current interns)
o Different colored sheets for each internship site full with info, job descriptions (presented video of current interns)
o Learned what each site did and completed tasks signed off by managers
o Applications doubled!
· Issues getting interns with small school programs
o Potentially change program to allow parents to transport or use buses instead of being in a residential program
· Transportation
o Contact VR for passes/money for Uber
· Go into schools a month or so before open house to give a presentation to transition classes to advertise program. Give students brochures and PS promo items to inform them of the program. Explain program, sites, and watch video.
Supervisor and Mentor Education: DISCOVERIES & INSIGHTS
· Disability awareness
o Once a year
o Provide “I’m Determined” or preference sheet w/ picture to department at start of internship. Talk to new staff due to high turnover, meet/intro to temps, new staff
· Role of skills trainer
o Do good job of explaining role of a site supervisor/mentor
o Remind managers and supervisors/mentors who to contact regarding issues
o Go to new staff orientation to explain Project SEARCH
· Manager Info packet
o Program overview
o Why you should hire
o Resource page w/ links
o Helpful tips and strategies
· Create a mentor buddy system and pair an experienced mentor with a new mentor
· Mentor luncheon
o Bring DVR 15 min education session
o Bring CRP
· Meet and Greet hosted by interns in each dept.
· Ask questions about intern’s interests, collect data and assessments before intern is selected for internship (rubric, Voc Fit)
· Manager and mentor complaints about interns
o Team education
o Identify root cause
o Problem solve first before removal
o Interns interview for each department
Job Searching: DISCOVERIES & INSIGHTS:
Challenges:
· Funding/outside support, lack of assistance
· Getting people on board (employees), push back on need for coaching, not willing to take a chance. Competing against high unemployment rates
Ideas:
· Keep up customer service to help promote return rate, build relationships to help increase rate of acceptance of employment
o Working interviews/external internships - allow interns to show their skills at a potential employer
· Parents afraid of losing benefits, fear of transition
· Deal with Benefits challenges - completing benefit applications, analyzing early on and tell them upfront
· Benefits analysis upfront - sign document that states they are aware they could lose benefits, having discussions on it. Families need to be involved
· Unemployment rates- high applicant rates for few positions - needing to make strong connections with employers, present high attendance rates; support they will get long term
· Tax Credits: what are they good for? Small businesses after the job offer
· Making Job Connections- job fair/ personal connections.
· Feeder programs to assist in job readiness
Internship Development: DISCOVERIES & INSIGHTS 
· Overcoming fears, getting departments to let us in/ buy in
· Small sites- If not many opportunities, find business needs
· Management- If interns seen as a liability/not comfortable with population, EDUCATE THEM!
· Having champions who are employed root for the program
· Intern being hired in dept. causing loss of internship – Look for more
· Other competing programs- make students stand out in a good way
· Building relationships before intern starts – critical to building trust
· Be mindful of the level of support a site needs – be reliable: (train staff), monitor our staff performance
· Educating all partners
· Making internships reflect the job industry
· Building trust with the host business
· What does it mean - adding more things/tasks for internships?
o In hospitality industry build up to public facing jobs
o Employees identifying tasks for interns as they gain skill
o Getting good fits
o If host businesses not open to adding new tasks, look for unmet need/adding value to a department
o Look into programs such as Easter Seals for videos on assistance
o Possibly do a disability training
Analyze internships that don’t work: Do you place an intern into a position that you know they won’t do well in? |
8/16/2019
Topic:
Welcome New Teams!
Joy Burress
|
Welcome to Project SEARCH Lisa and Karen! I recently added information including ideas to the "Implementing Project SEARCH" section of P.S. Let's Chat. I hope they are helpful to you and many others! |
11/26/2019
Topic:
Hospitality Internships for Intern in Wheelchair
Joy Burress
|
Has anyone developed internships for a student intern that is in a wheelchair? This would be a site at an Embassy Suites. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. |
3/13/2020
Topic:
COVID-19-Ways to Engage Interns
Joy Burress
|
As many, if not all, of us experience changes to our daily routine due to restrictions on gathering people, how can we manage to keep the interns engaged and use this time as a learning opportunity? |
3/16/2020
Topic:
COVID-19-Ways to Engage Interns
Joy Burress
|
Amanda Myers-Ramirez wrote:
I am currently working on an interactive Google Classroom with activities that our interns can do from a remote location. I am also going to try to uploading fun activities and videos to keep them busy and encouraged during this time away from their normal routines. |
3/16/2020
Topic:
COVID-19-Ways to Engage Interns
Joy Burress
|
Thank you for adding your ideas to this post. I hope that others will see your ideas and use or build upon them for their own sites! |
3/17/2020
Topic:
COVID-19-Ways to Engage Interns
Joy Burress
|
This morning I received an email to a list of educational Netflix shows organized by age/grade level from 1st to high school. This is a link to the page. https://www.weareteachers.com. |
3/17/2020
Topic:
Customizing a job
Joy Burress
|
Hi Kaitlyn!
Can you tell more about the type of position including the tasks that need to be performed? I know there are many needs in a hotel that may be a bit unique from other types of businesses.
Thanks!
Joy |
3/17/2020
Topic:
CoronaVirus
Joy Burress
|
Hello!
Jump over to the COVID-19 Ways to Engage Interns post for more ideas about what to do while schools and businesses are closed. You can use the SEARCH function on the top right hand side of the page. The word is pretty small so look closely.🤓
Thanks,
Joy |
3/31/2020
Topic:
COVID-19-Ways to Engage Interns
Joy Burress
|
Hi Tom,
Are things still looking dark? I'm hoping you have heard from your business liaison. Thank you for being proactive with your plan with your principal. Please reach out to my email if needed.
Joy
Tom Szambecki wrote:
WE are still on the dark though I reached out to our liaison and let her know that we would suggest pulling away from our direct patient care positions.
Our other positions are with very needed positions due to personnel cuts in labs, food service and infection control. At this writing our child card position is still available. Since we are on spring break and we do not know if the schools are closing this may all be moot.
I think we are all a bit dazed by the fluidity of the moment and the waiting.
One proactive plan with my principal is that we have classroom space at the school if the hospital closes to us. We may be able to move an intern or 2 to our sister site, and we are already working at getting 2 interns hired by the host in areas that may require quicker response in support. The lab handles both blood and tissue samples and I believe they are going to be busy if they get approval to start testing for the new virus. Also our infection control position is one that may need to ramp up due to the exposure of vulnerable populations and the efficacy of the program on HAI's |
4/1/2020
Topic:
US School Closures Due to Coronavirus
Joy Burress
|
Follow the link for updated information about school closures. Does this align with what you are experiencing in your state?
https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/map-coronavirus-and-school-closures.html |
6/9/2020
Topic:
Employment Planning Meeting video
Joy Burress
|
I think we need to make a contest out of this. The first three individuals to submit a video of an Employment Planning Meeting (it must align with our Model Fidelity and have releases signed by all that are shown in the video) will receive a high five from each of the consultants at the next conference! |
7/20/2020
Topic:
Employment Planning Meeting video
Joy Burress
|
Hi David,
Thanks for posting your question on the blog. I'm so glad to hear that your interns are actively seeking employment. While they are in this stage, they are considered unemployed. As soon as they gain the employment they have worked so hard for, you can change their status to employed. Please let us know if you have additional questions.
David Villegas wrote:
Hi,
I am trying to enter Employment status but it is only giving me 2 options. All of my interns are actively seeking employment but none of them have secured employment at this time. How am I supposed to enter that they are actively looking? |
11/28/2023
Topic:
EPIC System at Hospital Host Sites
Joy Burress
|
Hi Susannah!
This is Joy from the National Project SEARCH team. Prior to this role, I was a manager in the Scheduling Department at Cincinnati Children's. We used Epic and my interns had access to it. This was about 8 years ago, however, I will explain how Epic was used during the internship and carried on when/if an intern was hired.
During my time as manager in the Scheduling Department, one of the skill building activities was to review the returned mail and compare the address on the letter with what was listed in the patient address field in Epic. The intern then listed the status in an Excel sheet that I then reviewed. We were able to cut down on the returned mail which ensured more patients got the appointment instructions.
I would suggest speaking with the manager in the department that uses Epic and see if permission can be granted allowing interns to gain access on an individual basis. You may remind the manager that there are very detailed reports that are typically monitored closely. I know this because one of my employees was working the returned mail report and accessed the medical record of a local celebrity. A flag was thrown and I was called to investigate why my (then employee) had accessed the medical record. She was simply working the Returned Mail report. It was an open and shut case but demonstrated the safety nets that are in place to protect the medical information.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Have a great Tuesday!
Joy Burress |