New Start

Employment Services for Adults with Brain Injury

Employment consultant Elizabeth

Meschievitz assists participant

Tamara Piper in adjusting an

ergonomic work situation at the

Family Member Animal Hospital

in Loveland, Colorado.

 

Craig Bloom stocks merchandise

at Downtown Ace Hardware,

Fort Collins, Colorado.

The CCP New Start Program is staffed with highly qualified and skilled professionals with over 40 combined years of experience working with adults with brain injury. Included on the New Start Team are occupational therapists, a social worker and a professional who has first-hand experience about brain injury, having sustained an injury herself. Individualized employment services provided by New Start include the following:

• Functional Community-Based Assessment: New Start staff work closely with referred participants with brain injury, providing opportunities for them to either return to the pre-injury place of employment (if applicable) or 2 – 3 new employment sites, to try out jobs in these environments and determine strengths, abilities and support needs, as well as to establish whether the participant is interested in any of the types of employment. For participants who are unable to drive, New Start staff will also determine, through observation in the community, what supports the participant may need to utilize public transportation and fully access the community. The assessment process may take 4 – 6 weeks, in that all assessment activities are at multiple sites the community.
• Job Development: Following the assessment process, participants with brain injury will work with a New Start staff member and a CCP Job Developer, developing a resume and applying for jobs in the community that match identified strengths, abilities and support needs. CCP and the New Start staff take pride in identifying and securing jobs that uniquely match each participant’s identified skills and abilities, targeting jobs that the participant is qualified for and insuring that the employer’s needs are met.
• Employment Consultation: Once the participant has been hired, New Start staff will work with the participant and the employer, insuring that supports are in place for training and completion of essential job functions.  New Start staff will identify any adaptations or accommodations that are needed away from or at work that will promote employment success. In addition, New Start staff will assist with on-the-job training, as needed, and will provide job coaching to insure the participant understands and is able to fulfill all aspects of the job. If requested or needed, New Start staff will provide disability sensitivity support and training for co-workers and the employer, promoting natural supports in the work environment.
• Independence It is expected that New Start participants will achieve independence and success at work. New Start supports are all provided with ultimate independence being the goal, and the eventual transfer of on-going support and encouragement from New Start staff to co-workers, the employer and family members on the home front.

Referrals to the CCP New Start Program for Employment Services may come from the following sources:

• Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR)
• Private Insurance
• CO TBI Trust Funds
• BI Medicaid Waiver
• Workers’ Compensation
• Self-Pay