In March 2017, Employment Solutions and an audience of over 100 human services workers from throughout the region, along with parents, employers and persons served by Employment Solutions met in the conference center of the Fayette County Extension Office to celebrate our mutual successes.
Although there are several post-secondary schools that offer programs in early childhood education in our area, only one provides its students with the opportunity to interact with children and develop lesson plans and other programing in an actual day care setting.
That special place is the Early Childhood program offered by the College for Technical Education. By working with children in an actual day care setting throughout the nine-month program, students are qualified to sit for the CDA exam and also prepared to assume the responsibilities of the child care professional upon graduation.
Employment Solutions’ Bluegrass Career Services (BCS) is among over 50 other community rehabilitation programs that receives referrals from the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR).
For the past two consecutive reported years, BCS has topped all other OVR organizations in the attainment of successful job placements for people with disabilities.
The team of employment consultants at BCS work diligently to assess the desires and capabilities of its OVR referrals. Bluegrass Career Services consultants also use their extensive network of employers to find just the right match between individual jobs and workers.
In addition to OVR referrals, BCS also job places the students of the College for Technical Education. Using the same personalized techniques, BCS attained an overall job placement rate of 95% for the graduates of CTE.
During FY 2015-2016 BCS attained a combined total of 198 successful job placements, an all-time high.
Thanks to our ongoing relationship with Veritiv Corporation, a national corrugated packaging manufacturer with production facilities throughout the United States, Q-Box enjoyed a banner year. During FY 2015-2016, Q-Box racked up sales of $762, 287. The $1 million mark may be in reach in FY 2016-2017.
Utilizing the federal special minimum wage, Q-Box employs people with significant intellectual and other developmental disabilities to produce corrugated boxes and packaging materials. They also perform simple assembly operations for local manufacturers and businesses. During FY 2015-2016 Q-Box paid over $140,000 in wages to people with severe disabilities, which served to supplement their Supplemental Security Income (SSI), while also saving tax dollars.
Arguably the most significant development for Employment Solutions during FY 2015-2016 was the launch of Family Home Provider (FHP) residential services by our Life Works division. Through the auspices of Kentucky’s Medicaid Supports for Community Living (SCL) program for people with intellectual disabilities, FHP’s program consist of independent contractors who are carefully matched with SCL participants who provide care within their own homes. One of the primary advantages of the FHP model is that it allows people with intellectual disabilities to be incorporated into the regular activities and rhythms of life of a typical household.
While the goal of this initial year of operation was to serve 10 people, by the conclusion of FY 2015-2016 Life Works was already providing FHP services to 22 SCL participants. So strong is the demand for FHP services, Life Works projects serving a minimum of 35 SCL participants by the conclusion of FY 2016.
During FY 2015-2016, Fresh Approach invested in several key improvements to its facility, including the expansion of client work.
We also made significant upgrades to the floors, walls and lighting of the refrigerated production room that contains a variety of power processing and packaging equipment.
Utilizing the federal special minimum wage, Fresh Approach employs people with significant intellectual and other developmental disabilities to clean, peel, dice and package fresh vegetable and fruit products, which are then sold to restaurants and food distributors.
During FY 2015-2016 Fresh Approach paid over $68,000 in wages to people with severe disabilities, and these wages served to supplement their Supplemental Security Income (SSI), while also saving tax dollars.
The expanded capabilities will enable Fresh Approach to hire more people with disabilities and pay them more wages.
Community Works, one of Employment Solutions’ newest divisions, has enjoyed tremendous growth during the past year.
Operating under the auspices of Medicaid waiver programs, Community Works provides people with intellectual and developmental disabilities one-on-one assistance with a variety of functions that allow people to live as independently as possible.
We provide assistance in transportation, medications management, relationship building, accessing community activities and various other self-help skills.
During FY 2015-2016, Community Works participants received a combined 96,228 hours of service from Community Works.
Because of an aging population and the expansion of Medicaid, Kentucky’s health-care industry is expanding and also is anticipated to continue to grow for many years to come. Within health care, one of the more prevalent entry-level professions is medical assistant, which performs a variety of essential functions such as recording medical histories, taking vital signs including EEGs, blood samples, and billing and coding responsibilities.
Schools that provide programs in medical assistance cover a wide variety of topics to prepare students to earn a Registered Medical Assistant or Certified Medical Assistant credential. To attain this credential, students who complete an accredited Medical Assistant program must pass a nationally recognized exam.
Compared to other area schools that typically take 18 to 24 months to train their students, the Medical Assistant program offered by the College for Technical Education is only nine months. CTE students, unlike any other school in the area, have achieved a 100 percent passage rate on this essential measure of competence.
We congratulate the students and faculty of the Medical Assistant program of the College for Technical Education. For additional information on Medical Assistant and the other programs offered by the College for Technical Education, please contact Andrea Mason at amason@cte.edu.
Since 2012, when we opened our CTE Cosmetology School at 2135 Bypass Road in Winchester, the College for Technical Education has found a community that feels like home.
Local citizens and elected officials have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome, and the students from the Winchester area are hard workers who have gone on to successful careers in the salon industry.
As a means of thanking Winchester for its hospitality, the CTE Cosmetology School has returned the favor in the following ways during this past year:
• Hosted the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce after-hours event on July 20, 2016, which was attended by over 50 local businesspeople and officials.
• Provided haircuts and other salon services, free of charge, to 178 children during our back-to-school event Aug. 9-10, 2016.
• Participated as a sponsor of the 2016 Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival over Labor Day weekend.
• Participated the 2016 Beer Cheese Festival on June 11, 2016. Here’s to continuing our long and fruitful relationship with the community of Winchester.
Here’s to continuing our long and fruitful relationship with the community of Winchester.