Supported Employment Services

CSS offers adults -- individuals 21 years of age or older -- with autism or other severe developmental delays quality, continual suppport in paid, volunteer, and self-employment endeavors. Assistance is provided to enable individuals served to work productively for four or more hours per day and to meet or exceed the expectations of their employers.

Support services include career planning, employment training, on-the-job training, and positive behavior programming. Following an initial assessment of each consumer's abilities, interests and needs, an Individual Plan, or IP, is developed and employment opportunities are sought. Consumers are supported to find vocation in private business and industry (in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors) and in government.

CSS has developed effective partnerships with local businesses in order to pursue its mission of finding appropriate work for consumers. This gives individuals the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to their community.

At the worksite a vocational counselor teaches the individual(s) the specific employment skills necessary for successful work performance. Assistance is also provided to the employer, at no extra cost, to help train the employee to perform his or her assigned duties. The counselor is also responsible for social skills training, money management, travel training and other habilitation or work-related training, as specified in each consumer's IP. Each individual is supported continuously while on the job.

Each adult funded works a minimum of five days per week for a minimum of 220 days per year. This helps establish a normal routine for each consumer.

Services

Ways You Can Help
PROVIDE A JOB OPPORTUNITY
Your organization may find it useful to have some of the routine, yet necessary, tasks of day-to-day operation performed by one of our workers. Our adults would love to do them. The individuals we support desire to work and learn new skills that will benefit your business. They are diligent, loyal and appreciative hourly or part-time employees. They will fit right into your workplace, and their abilities just might impress you. Take advantage of this emerging workforce segment!

Our partner employers include: American Dance Studio; AMF Bowling; Burger King; Chuck E. Cheese; Clements International Insurance Company; Courtesy Chrysler Jeep Dealership; Fitzgerald AutoMall; Floral Designs; The Gazette; Gelico Café & Pizzeria; Giant; Goodwill Retail Industries; Great Strides Therapeutic Riding, Inc.; The Groomery; Houston’s Restaurant; The Inn at Brookeville Farms; Kohl’s; Mary’s House; McDonald’s; Meals on Wheels; Metropolitan Ballet Theatre & Academy; Montgomery County Public Library; The National Institutes of Health; North Potomac Children’s Center; The Party Store; PetsMart; Pizza Hut; Shadowland Laser Adventures; Starvin’ Marvin’; St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church; Target; Wendy’s; Whole Foods; and Women's Cancer Control, among others.

To learn more about the benefits of hiring an individual in our employment program, click here.

JOB LEADS
Do you work in or know of a Montgomery County organization that could use help with filing, shredding, stocking shelves, cleaning, sorting mail, entering data, or getting set up? If you know of a business that could benefit from these as well as any other service, please contact CSS. We are seeking both paid and volunteer part-time work for our consumers.

Help
PROVIDE