This October we celebrate the 75th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness (NDEAM) Month. This month is so important because it reminds us to take a moment to celebrate the successes of individuals with disabilities that provide an essential workforce in each of our communities.
In the Employment Services Department at the Center for Human Services, we always take this opportunity to showcase the vast and varied contributions of the individuals that we have supported in the workforce. The slogan for this year is “Increasing Access and Opportunity.” For many of our individuals, they are assisted in their success and the embodiment of this slogan by the job coaches that provide support daily.
You may have spotted our job coaches providing support at plenty of locations throughout the counties we serve. However, you may also have walked right past them and never noticed their presence. A job coach’s primary job is to blend in and provide individuals with whatever support they need to successfully maintain employment and work toward independence. That support might include helping an individual to learn their daily job tasks, teaching administrative duties such as clocking in and out, maintaining a steady pace throughout the day, assistance with learning to how to interact with coworkers and management, as well as a multitude of other things.
The most important facet of job coaching is simply relationships. Job coaches build professional relationships with individuals in order to better support them and help them succeed. They facilitate relationship-building between individuals and coworkers, customers, and management. While establishing these relationships, job coaches are able to determine what support they can offer that is best for not only the individual, but for the employer and coworkers as well.
Our job coaches do an outstanding job supporting our individuals, assisting them in reaching their goals and ultimately living their dreams daily. Job coaches truly embody the mission of CHS by supporting all individuals to live a life without limitations.
Employment Services offers job coaching services through Vocational Rehabilitation and The Department of Mental Health in Pettis, Saline, Johnson, and Benton counties.