Employment Services
Reaching Your Full Potential
Whether you are seeking assistance in finding your first job, maintaining your current career, or pursuing a new one, we are here to support you! We look forward to being your partner as you seek lasting and fulfilling employment. We understand that your goals, skill sets, and abilities are unique and that a one-size-fits-all approach is not in your best interest. We will customize our services to meet your unique needs.
Our Employment Specialists are here to help you navigate your career and assist you with:
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Job Shadowing
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Skill Assessments
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Discovering Your Interests
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Career Exploration
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Building Vocational Skills
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Developing Soft Job Skills
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Resumé Building
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Mock Interviews
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On-the-Job Support
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Ongoing Stabilization
Our skilled Employment Specialists receive extensive training on working with individuals of different abilities and also engage in specialized training for working with individuals on the autism spectrum. Contact us to set an appointment!
Benefit Analysis
New or changing employment can impact the State/Federal benefits you receive. That's why we provide you with benefit analysis from a dedicated Benefit Specialist on staff.
Our Benefit Specialist will analyze your benefits and create a Benefit Information Network (BIN) plan specific to your situation to help you understand the benefits you currently receive and how new or changing employment could impact those benefits.
Your Employment Specialist will use your BIN plan when outlining the long term supports you may need and help with the modification of work incentives that may arise during the course of your employment.
What's the Partners Difference?
You Are Never a Number
We do not contract with outside companies who expect us to fill a quota. We work for you and we follow your interests. We will never try to slot you into a role that doesn't appeal to you. Instead, we are here to help you investigate your interests, navigate the job market, and develop the interpersonal, workplace, and self-advocacy skills you need to be successful.
Insightful Details
Often, clients aren't sure what type of job will be right for them, so our employment specialists ask about your interests and hobbies. An individual's hobbies can reveal a lot about their skill sets. For example, having a hobby of playing Minecraft can indicate aptitude for spacial awareness, making and executing plans, and maintaining focus on multiple inputs.
As our employment specialists get to know you, they dig into the details and contexts of your interests. For example, an individual who enjoys baking might specifically be interested in baking for friends and family, or working in a bakery, or pursuing starting their own small business.
Our employment specialists then help you decide how you want to apply a broad interest. For example, an individual who is skilled in creative writing might be more interested in writing promotional material as a copywriter or writing character dialog as a user-experience writer.
With You For the Long Term
Even after you accept a job offer, our job isn't over - we stick with you as both peers and advocates to ensure your whole experience is successful. Our employment specialists attend orientation with you to facilitate questions, provide support in focusing, and help complete paperwork. They go through training with you as a peer so that they can be familiar with your job requirements and can note where and how modifications may need to be made.
Our employment specialists then help your employer complete accommodation forms. They help determine what accommodations are needed and make recommendations of how these can be implemented. These can be as simple as having extra break time or being allowed to listen to one earbud while working. However, having these accommodations in place and documented in an official form is critical to successful, secure employment.
Funding
In addition to private-pay, Partners in Autism is an approved Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) provider. For more information on Indiana's VR program visit their Division of Disability and Rehabilitation Services (DDRS) site.
To find out if you qualify for the VR program, contact:
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
201 E Rudisill Blvd, Suite 300
Fort Wayne, IN 46806-1756
phone (260) 424-1595
toll free (877) 715-5292 (V/VRS/711)
toll free fax (855) 450-3571
Allen, DeKalb, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben & Whitley Counties
CARF Accredited
CARF
CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services providers in the areas of Aging Services, Behavioral Health, Child and Youth Services, Durable Medical Equipment, Employment and Community Services, Medical Rehabilitation, Opioid Treatment Programs, and Vision Rehabilitation Services.
Accreditation
Partners in Autism has earned the highest level of accreditation by CARF International for:
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Community Employment Services: Employment Supports
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Community Employment Services: Job Development
What Does It Mean?
CARF accreditation is a public seal of trust and commitment to quality based on internationally accepted standards. Achieving this accreditation demonstrates Partners in Autism's commitment to exceptional, personalized care. An organization receiving the highest level of CARF accreditation has undergone a detailed peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors, during an on-site visit, its commitment to providing programs and services of the highest quality.
Programs and services that are CARF accredited have demonstrated their conformance to internationally recognized standards for service delivery. They have demonstrated their commitment to continuous quality improvement and a consumer-driven focus.
Persons served play an active and vital role in the CARF accreditation process, from helping to develop the international performance standards to giving input on the quality of services they receive. Through accreditation, providers demonstrate their belief that all people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, have access to needed services that achieve optimum outcomes, and are empowered to exercise informed choice. Partners in Autism is pleased to join CARF in this mission.
For more information about CARF International, the standards, or the accreditation process, visit www.carf.org