The Story of Job  Squad Part I

     Once upon a time there was a job advertised for a “Job Squad Project Trainer” in Clarksburg at what was called Summit Center and is now called United Summit Center.  The position entailed recruiting, hiring, training, and employing individuals with psychiatric disabilities on a mobile grounds maintenance crew.  The crew’s job was to mow grass in peoples’ yards.  This was a small grant funded by DHHR that paid for me, the Project Trainer, and a few lawn mowers and weed eaters.  That was in April 1984. 

     There were several problems with implementing the grant the way it was written.  When meeting with the Division of Rehabilitation Service supervisors to tell them about the program and solicit referrals, I learned that the proposed method of payment of the workers – negotiating with the customers for a price – would be illegal.  So then I consulted with the Department of Labor about who would be the employer of these individuals and how they would be paid for their work.   I was told that I could try to obtain Special Wage Certificates or pay them minimum wage. We incorporated Job Squad in August of that year and it became Summit Job Squad.

The issue with paying the individuals was just one of the problems getting the program off the ground, but eventually it did get going, and I had a fine work crew of eight. We mowed and weeded and rode around in an old white bus with lawn mowers in the back.  The workers were great, loved being outside, and were so excited to be earning money!  The customers were pleased with our work.  Mow, blow, and go!

     Fast forward to 1993.  Job Squad, the mobile grounds maintenance crew, no longer existed, due to the loss of grant monies.  However, Summit Job Squad, Inc., the corporation, was still intact.  It became the mechanism for paying people with psychiatric disabilities to operate a Drop-In Center.  The peer run Drop-In Center was funded by another DHHR grant.  For ethical reasons, Summit Center couldn’t employ its own clients. So Job Squad functioned as the employer, thus eliminating the conflict of interest. The center operated in the building where a clubhouse program met on week days.  The peer supervisors were paid to organize and direct the Drop-In Center which operated evenings and weekends and was a huge success. 

     The FBI, CJIS Division, is setting up shop in Clarksburg and it is 1994.  The FBI opted to participate in the JWOD Program which is now called the Ability One Program.  This federal program provides that federal agencies purchase services or products from organizations that employ people with severe disabilities.  The law requires that 75% of the direct labor hours must be performed by individuals with severe disabilities.  The FBI wanted to purchase custodial services from a Community Rehabilitation Program or CRP and Summit Job Squad was chosen to be that CRP.  The fact that Job Squad was selected for this choice contract was highly controversial. Other CRPs in the area were not happy because they had never heard of Job Squad, thought we were inexperienced, and were sure that we “would give the program a bad name”.  Job Squad was selected by Source America because it was part of Summit Center which meant that there would be a critical infrastructure, client base, and financing for start-up.  We were inexperienced but managed to successfully launch and manage the custodial contract at the FBI Center. 

Summit Center helped us get started, but in 1996, Summit Center lost a large amount of Medicaid funding and was poised to declare bankruptcy when Summit Job Squad’s Board of Directors made the decision that Job Squad should legally separate from Summit Center.  We changed our official name to Job Squad, Inc. and moved to an office building in Clarksburg.

Job Squad was awarded the Grounds Maintenance contract at the FBI Center in 1997.  This was a smaller contract than the custodial contract, but included a Project Manager and a small engine mechanic.  We purchased equipment for both FBI contracts with a no-interest $20,000 loan from Source America and a $10,000 low-interest loan from Harrison County United Way.

In 2003 Job Squad was asked by Source America to take over a contract at a federal courthouse in Martinsburg, WV.  If we didn’t take it over, the contract would be taken off the Procurement List and would be obtainable by commercial companies. We agreed to try it for a while.  A few months later Eastern Panhandle Training Center filed for bankruptcy, and this agency was in Martinsburg.  After the bankruptcy there was no one to operate their 11 custodial contracts with the State. Since we already had a presence in the area, Job Squad was asked by the WV Association of Rehabilitation Facilities to quickly take over the operation of those contracts.  We did assimilate them and hired the individuals with disabilities who were already working on the contracts.  Maintaining the contracts in Martinsburg was difficult because of the distance – a three and a half hour drive - and the route over the mountains in unpredictable weather conditions, as well as the cost.  After three years Job Squad facilitated the transfer of the contracts to the Developmental Workshop, a Community Rehabilitation Program that is closer to Martinsburg. 

Brenda Hellwig, Executive Director

Technology is making many things possible.

The One-Handed Violin Virtuoso

A classical musician who plays with a prosthetic device helps young people with disabilities make music.

By

Hannah Bloch

Aug. 22, 2014 3:35 p.m. ET

Canadian musician Adrian Anantawan in 2010 Al Kay

"Music has always been important to me," says the Canadian classical violinist Adrian Anantawan. As a baby, he wore a silver bracelet with tiny bells that jingled whenever he moved. As he grew older, "My mother insisted that I play some kind of instrument," he says. At 10, he picked the violin—not a predictable choice for a child who had been born without a right hand. But he and his parents, immigrants from Thailand and China, didn't consider his disability an impediment.

A pediatric hospital in Toronto outfitted the boy with a prosthetic device known as a spatula—a slotted cast designed to hold a violin bow—and he began lessons. Now 30, Mr. Anantawan holds music degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale, as well as a master's in education from Harvard. He is a music director at Boston's Conservatory Lab Charter School, where he teaches more than 300 children from kindergarten through eighth grades. He has toured with the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and performed at Carnegie Hall, the White House and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics opening ceremonies, as well as playing for Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama.

Mr. Anantawan also helps young people with disabilities make music, including amputees who want to play stringed instruments. "I want to give back, through the experiences I've had, to people who need my particular kind of help," he says. Among his projects is a virtual chamber-music initiative with Toronto's Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the same facility that provided Mr. Anantawan with his first spatula 20 years ago. The project relies on a software program originally developed as a therapy tool for the severely disabled. It translates physical gestures into musical notes, somewhat like the way an Xbox Kinect works. Mr. Anantawan sought to give these virtual instruments artistic legitimacy by shifting them out of clinical settings and into concert halls. One student, who was paralyzed from the neck down, succeeded in performing Pachelbel's "Canon in D" with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra in 2011—only by moving his head.

Mr. Anantawan hopes technology will further expand disabled people's ability to play classical music. "My vision is to have a fully inclusive music program so people with special needs have the resources to participate fully," he says. "I want to make sure it's not just a matter of luck but an opportunity for everyone."

Discovering Larry

Discovering Larry

 

Larry is a calm, gentle man.  He is quick to compliment others and ask about their day and interests.  At first it appeared he wanted to know more about others than offer up any of his own interests.  After some coaxing and a lot of question asking, Larry began to emerge. 

 

Larry was born without the ability to see.  He attempted to attend a school for the blind, but being away from his family was something that he was not interested in doing.  He eventually moved in with his brother and his wife.  As the years past he became a very important part of his sister-in-law’s life.  Her greatest hope is for him to find his place in the community and to be able to make his dreams a reality. 

Larry enjoys spending time with his family, dancing and socializing with his friends, and listening to music.  Larry is good with his hands.  During the Discovery process, we learned that with minimal training he could dissemble and reassemble a bicycle brake, make decorative magnets, sand wooden objects, and package items.  After interviewing his service providers and observing Larry in action, we also learned he really enjoys running the vacuum.  For the past 6 months he has had a paid internship at the EuroSuites Hotel in Morgantown, where he sweeps the hallways on all five floors of the hotel.  Through systematic instruction a pattern was developed to allow Larry to count out the number of passes it would take to get each section of the hallway swept. 

 

 

During the Discovery process we have learned about Larry and Larry has learned about himself.  He is a very hard working social individual who has great potential and would excel at anything he does.  Larry’s story is not over, his journey is just beginning.  

 

Utilizing Resource Ownership

Nathan was introduced to Job Squad, Inc. a couple of years ago through the WVDRS. He was interested in becoming an employee of Pre Sort in Charleston, West Virginia.  Nathan was hired at Pre Sort to work on the line, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the business had to lay off some of their employees.  Nathan was a new hire, so unfortunately he was laid off.  Nathan’s parents did not give up, however, and continued to seek assistance in helping Nathan find employment in the community.  Job Squad, Inc. received the DHHR Customized Employment grant in 2014 in Kanawha County which allowed Nathan to begin his employment search again. 

Jan, a Career Counselor in the Charleston office, met Nathan and his family back in March 2014.  Jan began the “Discovery” process with Nathan which allowed her to get to know ‘who Nathan was’ as an individual – what his skills, interests, and talents really are.  Jan found that Nathan is a very enthusiastic and energetic individual who wanted to work.  She also found out that Nathan had developed a fondness for Chris Wilson, the supervisor at Pre Sort, along with the other employees who worked there.  Each time she met with Nathan, he continued to express great interest in returning back to work at Pre Sort.  The problem was there were no employment opportunities available at Pre Sort.

Together, Nathan and Jan continued to explore other opportunities in the community that would accentuate his talents and accommodate his personal needs.  Unfortunately, none of these job strategies turned into an employment opportunity that was beneficial for Nathan.  Jan began to discuss her frustration with Chris because she knew that Nathan had a real desire to work and was able to make a contribution in the employment arena.  Together, Chris and Jan discussed the possibility of bringing Nathan back to work at Pre Sort because this was Nathan’s desire.  Fortunately, business has picked up for Pre Sort and Chris made the determination that Pre Sort could use another piece of equipment called a Strapping Machine.

 Through Resource Ownership, Nathan’s parents provided the funding for the piece of equipment and Nathan has been hired to once again work at Pre Sort.  Resource ownership is a mutually beneficial process of acquiring materials, equipment, or skills that, when matched to a job seeker’s interests and customer needs, generates profits for the employer and wages for the employee. (Griffin, C.C., Hammis, D. & Geary, T. (2007). The Job Developer’s Handbook: Practical Tactics for Customized Employment. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing.) An example Griffin-Hammis uses is a truck driver who owns a tractor-trailer applies for a hauling job. Without the trucking equipment, the trucker faces unemployment, or a less satisfactory, lower paying hauling job.  People with the most significant disabilities are not often recognized for their exploitable gifts and talents, hence their high unemployment rate. Resource ownership counteracts the effects of disability stigma by suggesting a shared risk between the worker and the employer (and perhaps the funding agency), and a partnering approach to job creation.  Nathan is the owner of the strapping equipment at Pre Sort and if for any reason he were to leave his employment site, he would be able to take this equipment with him, or allow Pre Sort to purchase the equipment at that time. 

Resource ownership follows the tradition of career investment deeply ingrained in the psyche of our culture. The job seeker’s satisfaction must remain the focus of attention, blended through careful negotiation in the marketplace to reveal mutual gain between the employee and the employer. Anything less than the consumer-driven approach wastes taxpayer money, makes the job seeker appear incompetent to the community, and is not customized employment. Through the skillful work of Jan, our Career Counselor at Job Squad, Inc., and the willingness of Chris Wilson, supervisor at Pre Sort, utilization of Resource Ownership was negotiated and allowed Nathan to become an employee of Pre Sort, working four days a week, 20 hours per week.  This was a “win-win” situation. 

 Megan Krohe

Megan Krohe began working with Job Squad in March 2014 as a transitional student through the Harrison County Board of Education.  Megan graduated from Bridgeport High School in May 2014.   When we first began working with Megan she expressed a desire to work in the child care field.

Since Megan stated that she wanted to work with children through our process of Discovery, a trial work site or Internship was secured at Cubby’s Child Development Center.   Megan works at the site two to three days a week.  She has completed classes at CHOICES on Positive Behavior and Child Abuse and Neglect.  Megan enjoyed these classes and was excited about all that she learned.

Megan has a natural talent in working with the children at Cubby’s.   For her birthday, they made her a card with all their handprints and Megan was overwhelmed with their kindness to her.   Megan has taken her own initiative in assisting the classroom teachers and children, and sometimes brings her own books to read to the children at the daycare.   The children’s expressions when Megan walks into the classroom is priceless and they vie for a chance to play or talk to Ms. Megan. 

Megan has become an asset to the classroom that she works in.  She assists the children during craft time, reads to the children, participates in interactive play with them, and enjoys being with them.   Megan knows each child in the class by name and interacts with each one of them.  

While in high school, Megan was a member of the Bridgeport High School track team and competed in shot-put.   Megan was elected homecoming queen during her senior year.  Megan always has a smile on her face and treats those she meets with respect and kindness.   That same winning personality is what makes her a great prospect for employment in the child care field.

The discovery process confirmed to Megan that she wants to work in child care and she looks forward to being employed in this field.