Employment Services

Part of what we do at Highpointe is sourcing job opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For these individuals, the opportunity to work can help them achieve greater independence, personal fulfillment, improved self-confidence and healthier self-esteem, all of which combine to bring about an enhanced quality of life for individuals.

We make the necessary connections to provide decent jobs for individuals, in which they can best reach their potentials and find job satisfaction. In doing this, we also help to source employees for employers in the communities that we serve.

Paid Internship Program (PIP)

We provide paid internship options for individuals – aged 18 and over - who seek such opportunities The aim of the paid internship program (PIP) is to enable the individuals whom we serve to improve their job skills. We help them through the PIP to improve themselves to such a point that they are ready to take on long-term employment when the program ends.

As part of the PIP, each participating individual (called an intern for the purpose of the PIP) sets, along with their supervisors/service coordinators, goals that they want to meet during the PIP. Interns are assigned jobs/work roles that require the same effort and involve the same community as people without disabilities.

Interns are placed on minimum wage earnings and earn the same amount of money as everyone else! It is up to interns to choose the hours of work to which they are best suited, as there is no limit to the hours they can choose to work.

Target Interns of the PIP

• Any person who is of legal working age (18 or over) and eligible to work
• Any person who can travel independently or has dependable transportation (ADA Paratransit, Uber/Lyft, family member, etc.)
• Any person who desires to work full-time or part-time or attain self-employment, have a small personal business or develop skills training as an apprentice

Benefits of the PIP

Interns that attend the PIP stand to gain vital benefits necessary for a rewarding career throughout their lives. They - Learn work-related tasks and appropriate communication skills Gain practical work experience that sits well on any resume and helps procure future work Grow their competencies in a selected trade Are empowered to prepare to start a business of their own if they so choose

Our PIP qualifies as a kind of competitive integrated employment. Another feature of the PIP is that we offer vocational training and other job resources to interns. We pair intellectually and developmentally challenged adults with employers based on carefully identified criteria such as interests and skills. Moreover, we provide continual training to our interns so that they can continue to thrive on their job functions. We also provide continuous job assistance to interns as they may require.

How We Match Interns with Employers

We arrange a meeting where interns can meet and have a chat with job developers, who assess their skillsets, interests and passions to be able to develop a personalized employment plan. It is worth reiterating that our paid internship programs also provide great benefits to employers, whom we support and guide to seamlessly fit our mentally challenged interns with the most suitable job roles in befitting work environments.

We constantly reach out to employers in the community to widen employment options for the individuals whom we are privileged to serve. As we expand our network of employment partners (made up of employers and potential employers) we can better tailor available job options to suit the peculiar needs, interests and passions of the interns we serve.

Job Sourcing

Once the initial assessment is complete, our job developers work with the individual to find an appropriate position through:

• Existing leads with employers
• Cold calls and emails
• Online searches
• Monthly mixers
• Walk-ins
• Job fairs

Job-readiness

A key part of our employment services at Highpointe is to train our interns to be well prepared for the jobs for which they compete. In a competitive world where they will apply for the same roles as people without disabilities, we find it extremely important to prepare them to be as sharp and ready for work as possible.

• Finding recruitment specialists to speak about similar job-related topics
• Conducting mock interviews
• Creating resumes

Job coaching

Having trained and guided our interns to the point where they get jobs, we still do not leave them at this point. Our service is continuous; we are always there!

We have within our employ job guides/coaches who have what it takes to guide our interns, giving them the necessary support to excel in the job roles that we source for them. Our job coaches guide our interns, rendering the necessary assistance for interns to be quickly acquainted with their job roles and work environments and to excel on the job. Our coaches render this service from Day 1 of the intern’s employment!