New Partnership Adds the WORC © Program to Palladia's Continuum of Care

Palladia, Inc. partnered with the Columbia University School of Social Work Workplace Center for their Work Opportunities for Rewarding Careers (WORC©) project, which lasted from November 2004 through December 2005. WORC© targets individuals with mental health conditions (Axis I diagnosis) other than, or in addition to, substance abuse for competitive employment, using evidence-based assessment tools and curriculum. The WORC© Program is comprised of three components:

1) assessment, service delivery and workplace intervention,
2) career clubs
3) neighborhood Labor Market Outreach.

Palladia selected twenty-four staff members from all of it’s programs, disciplines and ranks to participate in the WORC© Program over thirteen months of consultation, beginning with 18 hours of staff training at the Workplace at Columbia in disclosure planning, ADA rights and workplace responsibilities, assessment of vocational and non-vocational barriers to employment, workplace accommodations and interventions, and neighborhood labor market development. Additional staff were trained in the use of evidence-based assessment tools and curricula, facilitated labor market outreach efforts, used learned labor market development strategies, and formed job readiness preparation Career Clubs. Of the 24 staff members trained during classroom consultation, 22 completed the 13-month consultation period. In addition, these staff members then trained an additional 8 to 10 staff members in facilitating Career Club, using assessment tools, and developing labor market outreach strategies. Eight Career Clubs were created and facilitated at seven Palladia services sites.

On average, in excess of 48 consumers attended eight monthly Palladia Career Clubs during the consultation period. The Palladia Centralized Vocational Services Computer Lab and Follow-up Center at Starhill, a cutting edge mobile lab that may be set-up in three locations within the site, was officially opened December 14, 2005. The lab is an agency-wide resource that may be booked for sessions by any Palladia vocational or WORC staff, and will boast new IBM Internet Rapid Access Internet Tools that translate English to Spanish, adapt for the visually impaired, and offer computer basics training software and resume formatting, along with other training tools. Lab participants will have access to e-mail, printing, faxing and on-line application filing. ßbefore you wrote that these were cutting edge….which isn’t so much true anymore.

By the conclusion of the consultation stage, in excess of 20 WORC assessments were completed for in-consumers, identifying them for potential employment. Within this system, thirty-five to 40 consumers, engaged in one or more WORC© activities (i.e. counseling and assessment, Career Club, neighborhood labor market outreach), gained and maintained competitive employment. Numerous others obtained positive changes in vocational/educational status, such as vocational entering and/or completing skills training, enrolling in GED prep/testing, performing internships, and committing to volunteer activity. The Palladia Centralized Vocational Services Computer Lab and Follow-up Center was poised to fully initiate the final stage of WORC© intervention: providing follow-up and support services to both consumer and employers.

Palladia continues to integrate WORC© Program philosophy into day-to-day service delivery as part of best practices, providing comprehensive assessments, individual or workplace interventions, labor market outreach, and job development and placement for consumers with multiple barriers to employment. One counselor’s testimony advises of a medically exempt tenant/consumer with a previous work history who joined the onsite Career Club and used the groups to learn about himself ßthis is vague….please elaborate , self-disclosure, and workplace rights and accommodations. He utilized information gained from the Career Club curriculum to secure accommodations and a job with Greyhound Bus Services. Yet another medically-exempt client, who had been severely ill in the past year and participated in the same Career Club, utilized information gained at the Career Club to apply for VESID, complete a peer education training and secure employment. These consumers have become some of the biggest advocates for Career Clubs and the WORC© Initiative.

For more information on Palladia's integration of the WORC© Program philosophy into its vocational training programs, please contact:

Obie Nichols
Director of Vocational Services
Palladia, Inc.
t 212.979.8800
obie.nichols@palladiainc.org