OVR Supported Employment Services

For Washington County Residents

TEC provides the following services

• OVR Supported Employment Services
• Paid Work Experience (PWE)
• Job Shadow
• Community Based Work Assessments (CBWA)
• Work Experience for Adults (WEXA and WEXA+)

OVR Supported Employment Services

TEC is a provider of Supported Employment Services for OVR (Office of Vocational Rehabilitation). TEC provides job development and job support to individuals referred by OVR for Supported Employment. Our goal is to assist individuals with disabilities to obtain competitive integrated employment.

OVR Counselors send a referral for Supported Employment Services to TEC. Once the referral is received, TEC will reach out to the client to schedule an intake appointment. Once the intake is completed, OVR will decide what the next steps are for the client.

Services

• Individualized Job Finding and Support
• Resume Building
• Applications
• Interviewing Techniques
• Online Job Searching
• Referrals to Benefits Counseling
• Employment Skill Development Services
• Job Coaching Support on the Job, if needed

Benefits

• Improve overall mental well-being
• Become a productive member of society
• Helps with recovery and inclusion
• Improves self-confidence and social functioning
• Provides meaning and purpose to life

Eligibility

• Must have a desire and willingness to participate in services that will lead to competitive employment
• Must have an open case with OVR and be referred by OVR for this service
• Must have a current authorization of services from OVR in place before TEC can provide services

Paid Work Experience (PWE)

Benefits

• Students gain meaningful work experiences to learn, grow and build their resume
• Students are paid a $10.35 per hour stipend for their 90 hours of work

Eligibility

• Students should be deemed potentially eligible by OVR to receive services
• OVR would send a referral and authorization for services to TEC for a PWE

Process

1. OVR refers a student for a PWE and submits an authorization for services.
2. TEC will contact the student to set up an intake to complete the necessary paperwork.
3. There are two parts to a PWE: Development and Learning hours. Students get up to 20 hours of Development time to explore career interests, create a resume, work on interviewing skills, soft skills, participate in a mock interview, and explore potential job placements.
4. After the Development hours are completed, students will begin their PWE Learning hours at a job location and will begin to work 90 hours and be paid a stipend of $10.35 per hour for their time.
5. Students should be active participants and attend regularly. Excessive call-offs will not be tolerated.

Job Shadow

OVR's Job Shadow program lets students explore career options by shadowing a position of interest. The program lasts two hours, with one hour for paperwork and selecting a position, and the other hour for shadowing at a local business. An OVR referral and authorization is required to start.

Benefits

• Students get to see a career position in action in a real-world setting within the community
• Students can decide if they want to explore the position further

Eligibility

• Students should be deemed potentially eligible by OVR to receive services
• OVR needs to send a referral and authorization for services to TEC

Community Based Work Assessments (CBWA)

This program evaluates an individual's capability to work in a competitive integrated employment setting. It involves placing individuals in real-world community jobs to assess their ability to work in those settings. The OVR counselor who refers the individual to the program determines the number of hours required for the assessment and identifies specific areas that must be focused.

Benefits

• Individuals can prove that they are ready for the world of work.

Eligibility

• Eligibility is determined by OVR.

Work Experience for Adults (WEXA and WEXA+)

WEXA offers a time-limited, paid work experience for adults to explore the world of work and develop employment-related skills. WEXA+ adds career exploration and work preparedness activities before the work experience

Benefits

• An individual can try out a position with a Job Coach on-site to provide support.
• The employer can try out the employee and train them with extra support in place from a Job Coach.

Details and Eligibility

• WEXA+ may include up to 100 hours of activities, such as interest surveys, job shadowing, informational interviews, workplace tours and instruction in employment-related topics.
• Work experiences may be any number of hours per week up to 40 and may last for up to 12 weeks.
• Individuals are paid a competitive hourly wage while participating in a work experience.
• There is no cost to participate in WEXA/WEXA+ services.
• You must have a case open with OVR to participate. OVR must refer an individual to TEC to complete a WEXA Experience.