Individual Employment establishes employment opportunities for individuals with severe disabilities in local business or industry on a one-person/one job basis on jobs at or above minimum wage. A support organization develops the job based on an individual’s interests, assists with training the individual and then provides ongoing support and retraining to the individual, the employer, and/or co-workers.
Self-employment has emerged as an option for some individuals. The support organization assists the individual with a business plan, taxes and other details of self-employment.
Benefits
Benefits of Individual Employment include, in part:
- A choice in the work they do
- Hours worked
- Location and time of the job
- Opportunities for an increase in natural supports
- Potential benefits, such as, health insurance, retirement, etc.
- Potential opportunity for advancement and Increased wages that will support economic self-sufficiency
- Who provides the support
Responsibilities
Some responsibilities to consider as an employee, in part, include:
- Periods of unemployment or underemployment without day program support
- Increasing demands of an employer and the expectation to meet those demands
- Develop and utilize personal skills and resources to navigate the community and arrive to and depart from the workplace as expected by the employer.
- Strive to grow independent of the county support system.
