Project SEARCH to Receive National Award

It doesn’t get any better than 100 percent.

The South Bend chapter of Project SEARCH, a school-to-work training program for young adults with developmental disabilities, will be recognized July 14 for placing 100 percent of the students in its 2014 graduating class into jobs.

Joshua R. Martin, Senior Director of ADEC Employment Services, and Katelyn Andrysiak, Project SEARCH Employment Consultant, will travel to Phoenix, Ariz. to attend the 9^th Annual International Project SEARCH conference and accept the 100 Percent Outcomes Award for the South Bend program.

“Successfully placing 100 percent of our 2014 graduating class into jobs at Memorial Hospital and then into a job in the community is an honor for all partners in this effort,” Martin said. “We are grateful for the students, their families and guardians and the strong partners at the site for this team effort.”

ADEC brought Project SEARCH to South Bend in 2010, in collaboration with Memorial Hospital, South Bend Community School Corporation, Vocational Rehabilitation and Indiana University South Bend. The South Bend program is one of more than 300 Project SEARCH sites across the United States and Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland and Australia. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.

With that goal at its heart, Project SEARCH recognizes each year at a formal awards ceremony the program sites that have achieved 60 percent to 100 percent employment outcomes. During the 2014 Annual Conference in Omaha, Neb., 110 program sites from 26 states and 3 countries were recognized for their 2013 employment outcomes. Of those, only 22 reached 100 percent employment outcomes.

South Bend is the only Indiana site to achieve 100 percent employment among its 2014 graduates and one of only 20 nationwide.

“It is a privilege to go and represent our Project SEARCH site and the State of Indiana at the 9^th Annual Conference,” Martin said. “We are privileged to work with these students and our site partners to make a concrete difference in the fulfillment of the vocational dreams of these students.”