What is Supported Employment?

Supported employment is a tailored model that helps people with disabilities find and keep jobs. The approach employs a collaboration that enables physically challenged people to obtain long-term sustainable employment and business ventures that allow them to hire valuable workers. The supported employment model is becoming more useful in assisting mentally challenged individuals, young people leaving higher education institutions, people recovering from drug and alcohol abuse, and ex-convicts seeking to begin a new life after incarceration. The responsive business model, part of the supported employment, states that providers must be business-minded and should not approach businesses from a social standpoint.

The program operators in the business model work to secure qualified candidates who meet the job requirements and then protect the resources needed to provide the necessary service needs of a given candidate for a given job. The supported employee model requires the only qualified candidate for a given position to be disabled (Wehman, 2012). As a result, in the supported employee-focused model, program operators first look for work. They look for a candidate who would best fit the position. In the responsive business model, the job seeker begins employment immediately and receives the necessary support. On the other hand, they are already at work (Leach, 2002). The program operators must identify the funding required to provide employment-related services in both modes.

People with developmental disabilities can benefit from working through supported employment models. As a result, different types of reinforced employment models will emphasize and define their differences. The individual placement model provides a person with disabilities with a job in the community or a business that meets their needs. In this case, the individual is trained on the job site by a placement specialist, where they learn the necessary skills and behaviors. As a result, the training boosts an individual’s confidence and enables them to socialize and perform their duties effectively (Leach, 2002). The employment professional’s assistance is tailored to the individual’s requirements…