In our friendly, supportive program environments, our primary focus is to help you develop the tools needed for employment in a community work setting, which include:
- Socialization
- Work Education
- Community-based learning
- Individualized skills building
- Paid production work (Young adults, 24 years of age and younger, are required to participate in an OOD assessment and career counseling prior to program admission.
We want you to be successful in any work setting and these are all important steps to moving forward on a path to employment. We will evaluate your progress and assess any needs you may have, such as specialized equipment and individualized supports, on a regular basis.
Educating you about the benefits of community work is our goal and that of Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD). Career counseling training is required annually to ensure you know your options and the process for pursing community-integrated employment through OOD.
Prevocational services will be moving towards the B.E.S.T. model for 2021.
Basic Employment Skills Training (B.E.S.T.) is a service category defined by DODD intended to be a time limited, transitional service prior to achieving your future employment goal.
- B.E.S.T. is for individuals who specifically have employment in the community as their future intended goal. We know that reaching that goal will happen at a different pace for each of you because everyone has individualized skills and behaviors on which they are working.
- This service is not intended to run for an indefinite amount of time and the progress toward your future employment goal is measured annually. Though a specified time limit has not been set for this service, approval to continue participating in B.E.S.T. services will be discussed as part of the team process.
- Our plan is to deliver the B.E.S.T. prevocational service using a combination of community-based volunteer and work opportunities, work and career education training, along with some paid work activity.