LEAD Center and Griffin Hammis Associates Launch New Training on Self-Guided Discovery

LEAD Center, in partnership with Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, recently launched a pilot program offering training and on-site technical assistance on Self-Guided Discovery to assist American Job Center (AJC) staff and their partners to learn and utilize this Customized Employment technique. Self-Guided Discovery is an assessment process that takes inventory of a person’s skills, interests, experiences, relationships, etc. to create a positive personal employment profile. Since success is enhanced when there are several people supporting or participating in a jobseeker’s discovery process, AJCs, Vocational Rehabilitation staff and community partners were invited to apply for the pilot. Four sites were selected through a competitive process: Georgia, Arkansas, Rhode Island, and California (San Luis Obispo area). The sites received four in-depth, virtual trainings on Customized Employment and Self-Discovery techniques and are now utilizing their new assessment skills to collaborate and support jobseekers in their communities through the Self-Guided Discovery process that leads each person to a customized job.

Customized Employment strategies have been used by job seekers, family members, service providers, American Job Centers and other partners to promote a strength-based approach to employment for job seekers with barriers to employment. It has been particularly effective in supporting people with more significant disabilities or complex barriers to employment in achieving competitive integrated employment outcomes. The Self-Guided Discovery pilot is part of the LEAD Center’s Customized Employment Initiative focused on infusing customized employment and discovery strategies into the workforce system.

For more information about the Self-Guided Discovery pilot, or the LEAD Center Customized Employment Initiative, contact Rebecca Salon, Project Director, at rsalon@ndi-inc.org.