Local organizations provide employment assistance to people with disabilities

When Frank Crow meets with individuals at Alternative Opportunities Inc. Employment Services, he says the conversations are more about the clients' abilities than their disabilities. AO helps people with all types of disabilities find employment, which involves screening clients to make sure they're capable of doing the job, teaching them resume and job interview skills, providing job coaching and retention services after hiring, and working with employers on job accommodations.

"The level of service depends on the level of their needs," says Crow, regional director for AO Employment Services. Clients come from all ages, educational levels and career backgrounds, he says, adding that there's often more to a disability than a wheelchair -- it can be anything from depression to past substance abuse to a learning disability.

There are no fees to clients or employers working with AO, and employers who hire people with disabilities may even be eligible for tax credits, says Crow. Clients have gone on to careers in management, retail and education, to name a few, and the AO job retention rate is higher than 90 percent, he says.

"I think there's a misunderstanding regarding people with disabilities in the workforce," says Sara McDowell, director of independent living for SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence. "I think it's important for people to understand that people with disabilities have a lot to offer. Our service not only helps businesses understand that, but also empowers consumers to go out and realize they can be successful in the community."

At SADI, consumers meet with employment mentors who helps them with basic employment skills, including resume building, dressing for success and searching and applying for jobs online. Once consumers have found employment, SADI works with them for about another six months to make sure it's a good fit. Additional workshops or seminars are held monthly to continue building their skills.

"Typically they are very loyal employees, and they are very thankful (to have been given the job opportunity)," says McDowell.

Crow, McDowell and Janet Childers, district supervisor for Missouri Vocational Rehab, say a common misconception is that hiring a person with a disability will be an added cost or burden to the company.

"On the employer side of things, a lot of them think hiring a person with disabilities is going to cost a whole bunch of money for accommodations, but it's just the opposite -- the cost would be very minimal, if at all," says Childers.

Vocational Rehab provides an array of services for people with disabilities, including on-the-job coaching, funding for textbooks, training fees, job supplies and assistive devices, and referrals to job placement programs at Alternative Opportunities, MERS Goodwill and the Community Counseling Center. The department also works within local school districts to help students getting ready to transition into the workforce or postsecondary education.

"Our mission is to provide opportunities and resources to eligible individuals with disabilities to lead them to successful employment," says Childers. Again, a disability can be anything from autism to brain trauma to deafness, she notes. "We do an assessment to determine what services would be required to help an individual become employed," she says.

Childers has known clients who went on earn college degrees or become nurses, truck drivers and computer programmers. Throughout Missouri, the department helped 4,511 consumers with disabilities achieve successful employment outcomes in 2013, she says. Part of the goal at Vocational Rehab, she says, is to make employers aware that "people with disabilities just want to work like everybody else does. We want to allow folks the assistance to reach their goal of employment."