Our Beacons PathFinder team is pleased to share that the collective hard work of our trainees and staff resulted in 100% of the fall PathFinder vocational trainees who wanted employment finding competitive integrated employment. The fall session ended in December 2021 and employment was secured by the end of January 2022 for every fall trainee seeking employment. By comparison, employment for those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in San Diego County has historically been approximately 13% despite California's Employment First policy.
PathFinder has been providing small ratio, curriculum-based vocational training workshops since its 2019 spring pilot. Each vocational session in the spring and fall provides up to 240 hours of hands on vocational training (soft skills, hard skills, career planning, person centered life plans, and more) over a 4 month period. Workshops are provided in areas such as creative design, customer service, entrepreneurial skills, office skills and more.
Each vocational workshop incorporates adapted pacing, assistive technology, simulated work environments, person-centered planning, progress monitoring and more. Funding for the PathFinder vocational training program is provided by the State of California through the San Diego Regional Center for eligible SDRC consumers.
A special thanks to local Bitchin' Sauce, which hired five of the PathFinder trainees!