For my senior internship, I was placed at a level 13/14 residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed adolescent females. Severely emotionally disturbed (SED) youth are children under the age of eighteen, who have a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that has interfered with their functioning as a family member, student, citizen, etc (Mental Health, n.d.). The group home for which I worked houses six girls aged thirteen to eighteen. At the facility, the residents are provided with 24 hour supervision, individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, equine therapy, and continuous support from a caring staff in a family-like setting. The facility’s program is structured, goal-oriented, and provides a long enough treatment period of 12 to 18 months to truly impact and teach SED youth that they can be successful.

Statement of Need

One of the agency’s goals is to teach the residents effective communication skills, appropriate social skills, anger management skills, coping skills, positive relationship building skills and so on. Once the residents graduate the program, they can use these skills to lead a more successful life. There is one important skill that the program does not address: job readiness skills.

Teaching job skills should be a priority for the residents who are nearing eighteen years old. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2002), “Youth aging-out of foster care are underemployed.” Teaching youth job skills and preparing them for employment can increase the chance that they will become employed. “Many students find [job interviews] intimidating and unfamiliar” (Bohannon, L.F., 2001). Exposing youth to mock-job interviews may familiarize them with the interview process and eliminate some of the stress and worry associated with interviews. Knowing some job skills could make the transition from “sheltered residential care” to “the real world” less stressful and less frightening for the resident. Additionally, teaching job skills at a time when the resident has constant support may increase the odds that the resident will seek employment once they graduate or leave the program.

 “Youth aging out of foster care are generally ill-prepared for self-sufficiency” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002). The services provided by my agency to the residents are intended to maximize their self-sufficiency once they leave our care. Job readiness is an important factor in self-sufficiency, and should included in the program.

Description of the Intervention

The purpose of my intervention is to familiarize staff members at the agency with a method in which they may teach employment readiness skills to the residents. Another purpose of the intervention is to familiarize the residents with the process of acquiring employment. To fulfill this objective, I have created a booklet for the agency which details ten steps to employment readiness for youth in residential care.

Additionally, following my own guidelines, I began to implement my intervention. Permission was obtained from my field supervisor to complete the intervention, and each time that I took a resident off-site. To qualify, the resident had to be at least sixteen years old, and they had to be on level three or higher. Residents that are on level three have typically been in the program a minimum 6 to 8 months, and have enough coping skills to exhibit appropriate behavior most of the time. One resident who qualified was away from the facility three weekends per month on home passes. Due to scheduling difficulties, she was unable to participate. At the time of my intervention, only one resident qualified.

One step in my intervention was to collect job applications from various local businesses and to teach the resident how to fill them out correctly. I offered assistance and answered any questions that the resident had. I taught her the importance of the application, and the employer’s expectations of the application. “Accuracy, neatness, and a clear, concise message are the key elements to success in presenting a good first impression on paper” (Gordon, W., 1993).

Following the ten-step procedure, I arranged to take the resident to a local business where she asked in- person for an application. We filled out the application there. Then, the resident returned the application to the manager. This allowed the resident a glimpse into what it is like to interact on a professional level. It encouraged the resident to have a more professional demeanor and vocabulary.

Another step of my intervention was to arrange “mock job interviews” with local businesses. I informed the manager/owner of my intervention and asked if they were willing to participate. Several businesses agreed to participate. Unfortunately, I was never able to complete the interview. Instability in the group home due to negative behaviors from the residents, to new resident in-takes, and to being insufficiently-staffed prevented the intervention form being carried out to the end.

Evaluation of the Intervention

I will never truly know the effectiveness of the intervention, as I will be unable to make long-term observations. This intervention may have given the participating resident the courage to seek employment on her own once she leaves the program.

Evaluation of the short-term effects was achieved through verbal feedback from the participating resident. Learning opinions and concerns through conversation is very important because the resident felt comfortable expressing herself in such a casual manner. The resident reported to be very proud of herself after we had filled out the application in-person, as has battled social phobias since joining our program. She was excited that she did not stutter, and that she was not scared to interact with the employees of the business. Both the resident and I agreed that she had underestimated herself.

The resident has expressed that she needs job skills desperately as she will be turning eighteen in less than one year. Moreover, she has no plans for family reunification. This means she will have to rely on herself for support. She needs to learn self-sufficiency and independence. Fortunately, in May, the resident will be graduating our program. She will be placed in another facility which offers a much more advanced transitional education. She will be allowed to hold employment at her new placement. Hopefully the skills she learned throughout my intervention will be helpful.

This project was well-received by my field supervisor. She believed this intervention should be used with all residents once they become qualified. My field supervisor would like to see the agency offer transitional training/job skills to the residents. I have created the booklet which describes each step of my intervention, so that it may be repeated by other staff members once I have left the agency.

Reflections on the Project

Initially, I worried how the project would be accepted by the residents. I thought that they may be uninterested, or that I wouldn’t be able to find businesses that were willing to participate. I was concerned that the participants would not take the project seriously, that they would use it as an excuse to get out of the house. I was a bit disappointed when the intervention could only be implemented on one resident.

The one participating resident was thankful for and appreciative of my efforts. She took advantage of the opportunity to interact with professionals and to gain valuable job skill experience. Though she was not able to experience the mock interview,  I feel like I have done something valuable for the resident.

The participating resident was also involved in an Independent Living Program (ILP) offered through Yuba Community College. Through this program the resident received social, budgeting, life and job skills. This was helpful to me because the resident had already received some job skill training and had already worked on resumes. She had already been taught the basics, so I was able to go right into the application and interview process. The fact that the resident participated in ILP saved me a lot of time on my project. Had this not been the case,  the project would have required more time and planning. I would have had to lead more educational groups in order to prepare the residents (step four of my intervention). The participating resident had been familiarized with the process already, but had not actually been able to experience it. With my project, I was able to provide the experience. I believe that the project can easily continue after I leave the agency. Another staff member would simply have to follow the same steps that I did.

References

Bohannon, L.F., (2001). Making a good first impression. Career World, 30(1), 20.

Gordon, W., (1993). Mock job interviews and the teaching of oral skills. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 17(1), 73.

Mental Health. (n.d.). Definition of SED. Retrieved September 21, 2002, from   http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/measures/mentalhealth.htm

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (2002). Employment outcomes for youth aging out of foster care. Retrieved April 28, 2003 from  http://aspe.hhs/fostercare-agingout02/

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