Employment Programsand Strategies
Customized Employment Program
Job Squad’s Customized Employment Program (CEP) assists job seekers and businesses to use universal economic development principles or Customized Employment strategies and techniques, to create economic value.
Customized employment means individualizing the relationship between job seekers and employers in ways that meet the needs of both. It is based on an individualized determination of the strengths, requirements and interests of a person and matching those to the needs of the employer (Office of Disability Employment Policy, 2018).
Successful outcomes include helping the job seeker to choose, get, and keep an integrated community job role or the creation of a unique, entirely new situation. So, we help people find traditional wage–paying jobs as well as helping others to develop themselves as entrepreneurs.
CEP is in both our Bridgeport and Charleston, West Virginia locations.
CEP strategies & techniques include:
- Maximizing each individual’s contributions
- Leveraging community connections & social capital
- Assisting individuals to access needed resources
Available in both our Bridgeport and Charleston, WV locations!
Serving job seekers + businesses in the following counties:
- Harrison
- Marion
- Monongalia
- Putnam
- Kanawha
CEP Services
Job Squad will spend time in the community with the job seeker, and those who know them well, and seek to discover the answer to the questions: “Who is this person?” “What are their skills, talents, and interests?” and “What are the ideal conditions of employment?”
Job Squad, in collaboration with the job seeker’s supports, will identify current barriers to employment and create plans to overcome those barriers. We accept referrals from WV Division of Rehabilitation Services and Medicaid IDD Waiver Case Managers.
- Job Matching and Analysis: We will assist job seekers to explore potential career options--with the goal of finding a "job match" that is a good fit for the job seeker and the employer.
- Person-Centered Job Development: We utilize an individualized and customized method of work exploration. We will assist the job seeker to highlight their personal contributions, and assist with community networking.
- Social Security Benefits Analysis and Planning: involves assisting in analyzing an individual's current benefits, the impact earnings will have on these benefits, and explaining the use of Social Security Work Incentives.
Contact us for more information!
Lisa O’Neal
Director of Vocational Services
304-345-4634
loneal@jobsquadinc.org
Ticket to Work &Benefits Counseling
Ticket to Work
Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program supports career development for people with disabilities who want to work. Social Security disability beneficiaries age 18 through 64 qualify. The Ticket Program is free and voluntary. The Ticket Program helps people with disabilities progress toward financial independence.
Choosing to work can change your life. The Ticket to Work Program and Work Incentives allow you to keep your benefits while you explore employment, receive vocational support and gain work experience. If you are age 18 through 64 and receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) you already qualify!
Benefits Counseling
Benefits counseling is a free service offered by many Ticket to Work (Ticket) program service providers to explain how working will affect your federal and state benefits, including:
- SSDI and SSI
- Housing assistance
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/food stamps
- Healthcare benefits, including Medicare and Medicaid
Through benefits counseling, you may learn about additional federal and state programs for which you are eligible. Your counselor can then refer you to the right resource for assistance or help you to apply.
Your Benefits Counselor will explain how earnings from work will affect your Social Security benefits and how Social Security Work Incentives can enable you to ease the transition to work without immediately losing your benefits. They will also explain the importance of reporting your wages to Social Security to help avoid benefit overpayments.
Get Ready To:
- Increase your income
- Explore your work options
- Keep your Medicaid/Medicare while you work
- Gain greater personal fulfillment through work
To learn more, please contact:
Audra Spenia | 304-641-5024
CEP Business Partners
Are you a business interested in a CEP partnership? Contact us today!
