Employers Describe Success of Teens With Disabilities in PROMISE Project

Photo by Matt Reynolds

Perry Shaffer is one of 278 teens who worked last summer through the PROMISE project. He was employed by Nelson's Hardware in Cave Springs.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A teen with autism wants to help rebuild homes to improve neighborhoods, and he worked last summer with a Little Rock architectural firm, sharing his ideas and energy while learning.

“People would stop by all the time and visit with him and see what he had going on and ask about the projects that he was working on,” said Dan Fowler, chief operating officer for Cromwell Architects Engineers Inc. “He had a lot of energy and the emotional energy he added to the office was fascinating. It was wonderful.”

“The reason he wants to be an architect is what really spoke to us,” said Clint Whitely, one of the company architects. “He wants to be an architect to improve a community, to improve people’s lives.”

A teen with a congenital eye disease worked as a hostess at a Rogers restaurant, gradually overcoming her shyness to welcome guests and answer the phone. She wants to go to college so that she can teach the blind, her mother said, and her work experience boosted her self-confidence tremendously.

Her employers also saw that change.

“Providing first jobs whether it’s the restaurant industry or any other industry, you’re working with individuals who don’t really know what to expect so you have a clean mind,” said Stephanie Matteson, Lace’s worksite supervisor at Houlihan’s Restaurant. “It’s really important to help them set up that work ethic.”

“As adults, we have to look at who’s coming up to the next level of employment and it’s our kids,” said Susan Daniel, an employee of Arkansas Workforce. “We need to teach them everything we can so that we have valuable employees in the future.”

Those are some of the comments from two short videos that feature the stories of Dorian Shavis and Lace Watson to show how the Arkansas PROMISE project works to benefit all the participants – teens with disabilities, their families and their employers – and to encourage more businesses and industries to take part in PROMISE. The videos can be viewed on the PROMISE website.

PROMISE benefits employers by paying the salary of teens and providing additional support through the local Arkansas Workforce offices and the assistance of job coaches and connectors who make sure the needs of both teens and employers are met, explained Brent Thomas Williams, an associate professor of rehabilitation education and research who is principal investigator of the $35.7 million federally funded grant project.

Last summer, 278 PROMISE youth worked with local employers in 25 Arkansas counties.

“This year, 556 PROMISE youth are scheduled to go to work in June,” said Philip Adams, project director. “More local employers are needed to provide a summer job for these youth, who are between 14 and 18 years of age. Research indicates what businesses involved in PROMISE discovered in 2015: With the right initial support, employees with disabilities have been shown to have less turnover, fewer accidents, lower lost-day averages, and more appreciation for their work than those employees without disabilities.”

Employers can get involved by contacting their local Workforce Investment Board. Those contacts can be found on the PROMISE website, along with a call-to-action video from Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

PROMISE is an acronym for "Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income." In September 2013, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the five-year grant to the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Department of Education to fund the Arkansas PROMISE project. Its goal is to improve the career and education outcomes of low-income teenagers with disabilities.

PROMISE enrolled 1,929 teens in 25 counties of Arkansas as of Feb. 24, which represents 96 percent of the project goal to enroll 2,000 teens by April 30. After enrollment, the teens are divided into two groups with half of them receiving the additional training and paid work experiences, and the other half receiving only the usual services provided to teens with disabilities. Researchers will collect and analyze data from the two groups to help the federal government determine whether the PROMISE project should be used as a model for future programs.

Williams said the initial work experiences of teen participants develop and hone their workplace skills that facilitate future long-term employment, which reduces their reliance on Social Security and other government assistance. Long-term employment of people with disabilities also increases community inclusion and facilitates wider participation both in the workplace and in social activities that increase quality of life.

“In decades past, I think one of the obstacles in outreach to potential employers may very well have been the approach used by some in the field of rehabilitation,” Williams said. “Often a minimizing and normalizing approach was used in which the employer was assured that, through accommodations and strategic placement, barriers to employment would be minimized; and, as such, the person with a disability would function more or less normally.”

That approach was what Williams termed a false bill of sale.

“Accommodations and strategic placement do minimize barriers to employment for people with disabilities and allow them work competitively in the community,” he said. “What accommodations and strategic placement don’t do is erase disability. I think it is very disingenuous to imply that hiring people with disabilities won’t have an impact on the businesses that hire them. It most definitely will.

“What these PROMISE videos show is that the impact is a profoundly positive one,” Williams continued. “In these videos, we see that people with disabilities can in fact do competitive work and that, quite the opposite of having no impact, their presence has a positive impact for the businesses that hire them.”

About Arkansas PROMISE: The PROMISE project is a joint initiative of four federal agencies: the departments of education, health and human services, labor and the Social Security Administration. Its underlying premise is that improved coordination between services can improve outcomes for youth and their families. Its goals also include decreasing reliance on SSI and reducing the cost to the federal government. The grant was submitted through a partnership between the university, the Arkansas Department of Education and other state agencies. Other partners are the Arkansas Department of Health, Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, Arkansas Workforce Centers, Arkansas Department of Human Services, Arkansas Department of Higher Education, Sources for Community Independent Living Services, the Clinton Foundation, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, U of A CURRENTS, Partners for Inclusive Communities and Arkansas Research Center.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.