Karissa's Employment Journey.
Part 4: Keeping a job in competitive integrated
employment.
In Part 3 of this series, Karissa
found a job at a craft store, and soon
became confident and stable in her job with support
from Vocational Rehabilitation Services, VRS, job search
placement services.
Immediately after Karissa was hired,
her waiver case manager authorized waiver employment
support services through her employment service provider,
Grand Services.
This ensured that after she reached stability
in her job and initial supports through VRS ended,
she would have ongoing support.
Karissa is now in the Keep phase,
and the team at Grand Services provides waiver employment
support services to Karissa.
They check in with her weekly and offer
support whenever her job duties are updated or changed.
Karissa's VRS counselor stays in contact
with her and Grand Services until she reaches
90 days of successful employment,
and then he closes her VRS file.
Karissa is happy at her new job, and she
loves having more money to buy clothes, and go out
to eat with her friends.
She even talks about renting an apartment, so she and her team
start to explore her housing options.
Along with the support of her team,
Karissa was able to make an informed choice
to work in her community.
Karissa has really grown in confidence,
and created positive change in her life.
Let's take another look at the people on Karissa's support
team, their roles and how they supported her
in identifying and reaching her goals for work.
Her parents were there to support her during the decision
making process.
Her waiver case manager was there to help assess her needs,
create her support plan, and ensure services were in place.
Her VRS counselor provided vocational rehabilitation
services to help her find a job.
And the employment service provider, Grand Services
delivered the services in her employment plan and support
plan.
But it was Karissa herself who really drove her own employment
plan.
She decided who she would invite to meetings, who she would share
information with, what services she wanted,
and who would provide those services.
Karissa is excited to keep moving forward
and explore what other options and opportunities might be next,
both in her life at work and in the community.