STEP UP program helps young adults with disabilities train for jobs

Whitney Williams was inspecting rows of books she had sorted, priced, and neatly arranged on a shelf at the Goodwill store in Lansdowne when a shopper stopped to ask her a question.

"What is this?" the woman asked, holding a shiny black rectangular gadget she had picked up from the electronics section. Williams was stumped.

But instead of simply saying she didn't know, the Upper Darby 21-year-old showed off her top-notch customer service skills by telling the woman she would find out. Running into the stockroom, she asked a colleague to come and look at the mystery item.

Not bad for someone whose only previous job experience was wiping tables in a school cafeteria.

Williams and two other former Upper Darby special education students are reaping the rewards of a program called STEP UP - Success Through Employment Preparation - that tackles an especially vexing problem: Job placement for young adults after they age out of school at 21.

The partnership between the district and Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County Inc. aggressively promotes the learning of job skills through competition, promising employment only to the best performers.

Eight Upper Darby special-ed students entered the program in the spring, and three ultimately earned $7.75-per-hour retail jobs at the Goodwill store: Williams, Andrew Brooks, and Joseph Opont.

"It wasn't automatic that they were going to work," said Allison David, Goodwill's vice president of mission services. "It's more real world. They had to perform."

The real world is often harsh for young job seekers with disabilities. Officially, the U.S. Labor Department says the unemployment rate for those with disabilities is 12.8 percent - more than double the national average - and advocates say the actual number is much higher because most are not actively seeking work. More than one-third of those who do find jobs are still living below the poverty level, according to the Disability Funders Network.

Statewide, at the end of 2012, a total of 438 special-ed high schoolers had reached age 21, and more than 5,500 were 19 or older, according to the state Department of Education.

Maureen Cronin, executive director of the Arc of Pennsylvania, which advocates for people with intellectual and developmental difficulties, said job placement for young adults who finish their special-ed schooling is extraordinarily challenging, especially with the overall job market sluggish.

Solving the problem, she said, will involve raising awareness among employers, starting vocational training at an earlier age, and creating more innovative partnerships among schools, firms, and advocates.

The pilot program in Upper Darby was Goodwill's second to train and find jobs for disabled young adults. For the last three years, the organization has worked with students from the Red Clay Consolidated School District in Delaware to help them get work at Christiana Care Hospital.

Many of the Upper Darby trainees had some work experience, mostly through vocational programs that ended when they graduated.

"Some of them were pretty emotional about starting something different," said Gaylyn Walz, the Goodwill job coach who trained the students.

"It's challenging to transition from high school, and that nurturing environment with a teacher, to employment where the manager isn't going to beg you to do your job," she said.

The eight trainees spent four weeks in a classroom learning basic job skills, then seven weeks in the Lansdowne store rotating among tasks: customer service, restocking shelves, and sorting items in the back room.

"It was hard. I was nervous," said Opont, 21, who was working in domestics. "Then I got some advice from the teacher. She said there's no failure."

Brooks, 21, was "colorizing" women's shirts, working with a color chart to "put them in order like the rainbow." The shy Brooks said at first he was unsure about the program. "I got used to it."

Brooks' mother, Vanessa Lowe, said the job not only had made him more personally and financially independent, but more outgoing as well.

"Andre has changed into a more sociable young man," she said. "I see growth in him. I think he really, really benefited from his program. I love it." She said she hoped Andre's 20-year-old brother, Aaron, diagnosed with autism, wanted to follow in his footsteps.

This year, Goodwill plans to replicate the hospital program in Upper Darby. The growing health-care field offers a rare chance for students with disabilities to get a shot at a permanent job that pays at least minimum wage, said Goodwill's David.

"They've got a great work ethic, they're eager to learn, eager to contribute, and that for me is most exciting," she said. "It's about giving young people the opportunity to be part of something, be part of work, be part of a team."

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@kathyboccella