I recently traveled to West Virginia for the annual conference of my colleagues who lead state chambers of commerce from around the country. These conferences are a great opportunity to compare what’s going on in other states, bring good ideas back to Arizona, and learn how to weed out the bad ones.
Thanks to Arizona’s tax, regulatory, labor and legal systems, the economy here is doing very well, giving us plenty to brag about to other CEOs looking for policy ideas to boost our state’s economy.
But whether we lead organizations in states that are growing or stagnating, one thing we as chamber leaders hear consistently from our key members is concern about jobs, whether top employers are able to fill open jobs, and whether we are doing all we can to ensure that everyone who wants to grab that first rung on the career ladder has the opportunity to do so. There are too many unfilled jobs and too many potential workers sitting on the sidelines.
A national internship program called Project SEARCH could be a game changer for jobseekers and job creators, according to a new policy paper from the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council examining employment opportunities for Arizonans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Already partnering with the University of Arizona’s Sonoran Disability Services Center, Project SEARCH is a nationwide internship program for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities (usually high school seniors, but also recent graduates). The internships work with companies to give students the opportunity to gain work experience.
We can do more to find competitive, integrated and meaningful work opportunities for our fellow Arizonans with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Let’s look at the numbers.
Employment rates: Only 19.1% of people with intellectual disabilities are employed in the United States, compared to 61.8% of people without disabilities. Workforce: Fewer than one in two working-age adults with intellectual disabilities is in the workforce, and 28% have never had a job. The unemployment rate is 17%, more than double the unemployment rate for people with other disabilities and almost four times the unemployment rate for the general population.
“Project SEARCH is about changing the culture of families and general perceptions about people with disabilities,” says Heather Dietrich of the University of Arizona’s Sonoran Center for Disability Excellence and the program’s statewide coordinator.
The internship program boasts impressive statistics. Nationwide, PROJECT SEARCH for 2021-2022:
There are 3,855 enrolled students, 2,614 employed students, a completion rate of 91%, and 67% of students are in comprehensive and competitive jobs.
In Arizona, 344 interns have successfully graduated from the program.
“Interns are also learning transferable skills that will help them in any job, anywhere. The Project SEARCH curriculum includes team building and technology, financial literacy, assertiveness, workplace, safety, health and wellness, employment readiness and retention and more. And these skills are integrated into their day-to-day work,” Dietrich said.
Arizona has eight Project SEARCH sites in the healthcare and hospitality industries, including Mayo Clinic, Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa, Banner Health Gateway and SunMar, but project leaders have their sights set on expanding to ensure opportunities are available to students with intellectual disabilities across the state.
“It’s a largely untapped talent pool,” Dietrich said, “There’s a talent shortage across the country. Employers are looking to fill jobs, and we think we can help fill that gap.”
Access to meaningful employment for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities has long been a persistent problem. But I hear too many stories of employers struggling to retain talent. But there’s good news: the talent is out there, if employers only know where to look. Project SEARCH can help them find it.
To learn more about Project SEARCH and how it can bring new talent to your workplace, contact Heather Dietrich via email or at (520) 626-8295.