Ready to meet you where you are.

From parents planning how their teenage child with differing abilities will transition into adulthood and get a job, to adults with differing abilities who are looking to gain more independence with employment on their own, Employment Services with The Arc NCR is here to help and empower.

Achieve with us.

We currently have 62 employment partnerships throughout the northern Chesapeake region. Over 100 people with differing abilities are receiving support in competitive, integrated employment. And our rate of employment for those with differing abilities 27% higher than the national average.

Our services are available through the two sources listed below.

• Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA)
• Maryland State Department of Education: Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS)

Each of these sources offers a unique menu of services which are explained in the dropdown sections below. Please click on a section to learn more about it, but also know that our team is available to help you navigate what is best for you or your loved one. Email La Tonya “Toni” Cobb-Cannon at lcobb-cannon@arcncr.org.

DDA Services

The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) provides The Arc NCR’s main Employment Services for the agency, solely for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in the DDA Waiver. To learn more about the DDA Waiver, please contact our Admissions team by clicking here. The goal is for long-term support to obtain and maintain competitive, integrated employment. The photographs below highlight the various places of employment that we partner with.

Through the DDA Waiver, our team provides the services outlined in the tabs below. Each of these services occurs under the umbrella of what is called Job Placement. Click a tab to learn about a service area.

• Discovery
• Career Exploration
• Job Searching
• Job Coaching

Explore and Experience

The foundation for employment. Discovery is a time sensitive, person-centered, and community-based service that allows the job seeker to “discover” their potential, abilities, strengths, and interests related to work. 

• During the Discovery process, we identify abilities, interests, learning styles, skills, strengths and accommodations needed to overcome barriers.
• Strategically, the process of Discovery includes community assessments, job trials and social group settings.
• After the Discovery process, the job seeker walks away with an information profile, a resume and an employment plan for job searching.

Learning and Earning

Career Exploration is an option that allows job seekers to learn valuable, transferable employment skills such as workplace behaviors, time management, communication, and teamwork while earning a paycheck. Participants of Career Exploration work on janitorial crews in the community for pay and experience.

Coaches of Career Exploration observe job seekers and continuously assess their skills as they help the job seeker prepare for job search services. Career Exploration helps job seekers develop employment goals such as:

• Attendance
• Building stamina
• Completing tasks
• Developing safety skills
• Effective communication with supervisors, co-workers, and customers
• Following instructions
• Problem solving

Acquire and Achieve

Job search services are offered to first time job seekers, job seekers looking for a change in employment, or job seekers who have lost their jobs. Person-centered support is provided to help obtain competitive employment that is meaningful and community-based.

Job search services are direct and indirect. Direct services include:

• Assistance with completing applications and following up with potential employers
• Interview preparation and assistance
• Identifying reasonable accommodations
• Supporting self-advocacy and self-disclosure
• Onboarding
• Advocacy

Indirect services include:

• Networking
• Building relationships with potential employers
• Belonging to organizations such as The Chamber of Commerce
• Partnering with other job search agencies such as Susquehanna Workforce Network

The goal is to acquire meaningful employment that is competitive and integrated.

To Have and to Hold

Once a person is meaningfully employed, they are assigned a job coach to help train, maintain employment, and learn new tasks or skills on the job. The job coach is a trainer and advocate but also a partner to the employer.

When a person obtains new employment or new tasks at an existing job, they will receive “ongoing” support, a one-to-one service with the job coach being present for a specified amount of time until the job earner is stable in their position.

After a pre-determined amount of time, the job coach fades back but not away. The job coach will then “follow along” twice per month unless there is a need for the job coach to return to ongoing support for a period.

DORS Services

The Maryland State Department of Education: Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) offers a broader range of services than that of Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA). The Arc NCR is a vendor of these services in addition to the DDA services it provides.

Beyond the limit of only being available to those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities as through DDA, DORS services are available to anyone with any documented disability or serious health condition that makes it difficult obtain or maintain employment, starting with pre-employment services as early as age 14. The goal of these services are short-term and cover the areas listed in the tabs below.

• Pre-Employment Transition
• Workplace Readiness Training
• Adult Vocational Rehabilition

Hands-on Experience

For students with disabilities, aged 14 — 21, Pre-Employment Transition services moves from the classroom into the field, providing practical, real-life experience that will help youth transition into adulthood, exceling towards employment through the following areas:

• Work-Based Learning Experiences (WBLEs)
  Work-based learning experiences, paid or unpaid, are an educational approach that uses real work opportunities to provide students with the knowledge and skills that will help them connect school experiences with future career opportunities.
• Job Shadowing
  Students will shadow a professional throughout the course or portions of their workday to gain insight regarding typical workplace expectations, pacing and productivity.
• Job Exploration
  Vocational inventories and assessments will be used to help students self-evaluate and identify employment interests, strengths and needs.

Getting Ready

The Workplace Readiness Training program is designed for people who have little or no work experience. Training focuses on developing skills needed to be successful in the workplace through classroom-based instruction in the two main areas below:

1. Soft skills needed to sustain employment
   • Verbal communication
   • Non-verbal communication
   • Workplace relationships
   • Self-advocacy
   • Self-evaluation
   • Employer expectations
2. Skills needed to apply and obtain an entry level job
   • Job Searching
   • Resume/cover letter development
   • Interview skills
   • Workplace orientation
   • Financial literacy
   • Transportation

Assess and Develop

Adult Vocational Rehabilitation involves meeting adults where they are in terms of their employment journey and the challenges they are facing. The following areas of service are available to help get people on track for successful employment:

• Community-Based Assessment (CBA)
  Through exploring career areas of interest, areas of strengths, skills and potential barriers to employment are identified.
• Employment Development Services (EDS)
  A comprehensive, individualized process of assisting persons served in developing or re-establishing skills, attitudes, personal characteristics, and/or work behaviors to achieve positive employment outcomes. The objective of Employment Development Services is to build on each participant’s job seeking skills and techniques, providing the tools needed to represent themselves professionally and ultimately obtain employment. The following components are involved:
  • Job Preparation
    Developing resumes, cover letters and interview skills
  • Interview Assistance
    Including transportation to and from an interview and/or accompanying people in their interviews.
  • Job Development
    Supporting people in seeking an appropriate job in a competitive, integrated setting, potentially including job shadowing, assistance with completing applications and assistance with employer follow-up after interviews.
  • Job Coaching
    Providing support to assist people in learning job skills, problem solving, adapting to a new work environment, communication with supervisors and co-workers and monitoring progress to address any needs that may arise.

Support the mission.

We are a community-based organization, and as part of the community, you can support our mission. Do you know of a company that would be open to partnering with us for job trials, assessments or hiring? Send them our way.

Email: lcobb-cannon@arcncr.org
Call us at: 410-836-7177

If you are interested applying for The Arc NCR’s Employment Services, or just want to ask a few questions about our services, complete the contact form on our “Apply for Services” page linked below.