ACRE-approved Basic Level in Employment Services Certificate Training

This five-course series has the following features:

• To earn a certificate, students must complete all five courses and all required skills-based activities.
• Courses are fully online and asynchronous, and offered through the Canvas learning management system.
• Each course is open 24/7 for one full quarter.
• Each course can be completed in one sitting in an 8-hour day or little-by-little as the learner has time.
• The total training time for all five courses is approximately 40 hours.
• The curriculum has been designed for new employment service specialists in the disability field.
• Those who complete each required course and all the required skills-based activities will be reported to ACRE as such and receive an ACRE certificate.

Course 1: Orientation to Employment Services

This one-day course lays the foundation for understanding the core concepts related to providing effective, efficient, values-driven employment services and practices. It introduces the field of employment services, with a strong emphasis on relevant history and philosophy, funding, and partnerships. It also provides definitions and descriptions of the key concepts of employment services supports and practices.

This course is suitable for all employment services providers looking to enhance their understanding of the history of and latest research and developments in employment services delivery and practices.

Individuals participating in this course will learn:

• The history, values, and philosophy of employment services and practices
• Definitions and descriptions of key concepts of employment services and practices
• The steps of the employment services delivery process
• Funding sources and models for individualized employment services
• Ethical principles associated with effective service delivery
• Person-centered services concepts

Individuals will be able to:

• Begin implementing person-centered employment services and practices
• Begin to identify potential partners in the employment planning process
• Identify skills needed to provide quality employment services
• Identify their role and responsibilities in the employment services delivery process
• Perform initial quality assessments in their program

Course 2: Assessment and Employment Planning

Too often individuals struggle with job success due to the failure to conduct appropriate and comprehensive pre-employment discovery and assessment. The key to true job matching is a full understanding of the job seeker’s skills, assets, challenges, and ideal conditions for employment. The goal of this course is to return assessment to a more prominent place in the process.

Individuals participating in this course will learn:

• The critical importance of assessment in the overall employment services planning process
• The role of discovery in the employment services planning process
• The role of community-based assessment in the employment services planning process
• How to view file information with a critical and discerning eye
• Key information to be obtained during the assessment phase
• The distinction between the concepts of Notice & Wonder
• The benefits of assessment
• The elements of a positive vocational profile

Individuals participating in this course will feel:

• Confident in having a solid knowledge base in assessment and employment planning
• Empowered to provide thorough, quality assessment services
• Prepared to work with job seekers in a variety of community environments and employment settings
• Motivated to update their own or their organization’s assessment practices
• Inspired to make a difference in the lives of others

Individuals participating in this course will be able to:

• Identify the pro/cons of their current assessment practices
• Identify potential partners and external natural supports, inclusive of friends, family, funders, and community members
• Effectively use information from the case file during the assessment and employment planning process

Course 3: Orientation to Employment Services

Challenging economic times call for the mastery of creative and innovative job development strategies. Organizations that have adopted the relationship-first approach to job development have found greater success and higher placement retention. This one-day course focuses on strategies to maximize business partnerships and increase customized placements.

Individuals participating in this course will learn:

• The difference between the client-specific and relationship-building models of job development
• Common fears and challenges facing job developers
• Concepts of relationship marketing and networking
• How to speak “business” language
• How to conduct an effective job site analysis
• The relevance of labor market trends
• The importance of effective marketing tools
• Customized employment placement techniques

Individuals will be able to:

• Access and interpret local labor market information
• Conduct and interpret a job site analysis
• Design effective marketing tools
• Demonstrate knowledge of work incentives
• Demonstrate knowledge of laws and regulations relevant to employment services placement
• Confidently function as an employment advocate and job placement specialist
• Make the business case for hiring individuals with disabilities using language that resonates with the business world
• Teach a job seeker the key concepts of self-advocacy during the pre- and post-job search phases

Course 4: Foundations of Job Coaching

Success in employment services depends on designing effective and efficient employment supports. This one-day course focuses on the role of the employment specialist and the skills needed to support learning and long-term job retention.

Individuals participating in this course will learn:

• How our own values and life experience impact practice
• The significance and impact of workplace culture on employment success
• The “art” of facilitating effective employment supports, both in and out of the workplace
• Job/task analysis skills
• Job site accommodation and job modification strategies
• Theories of teaching and learning
• Techniques to adapt practice to match learning preferences
• Systematic/differentiated instruction
• Expeditionary Learning principles
• The nuances of the fading process
• To discover and use natural supports

Individuals will be able to:

• Identify roles and responsibilities of employment specialists on the job site
• Identify their own learning and teaching preferences
• Adapt teaching strategies to meet the learning preferences of a supported employee
• Work with an employer to develop a comprehensive training plan
• Demonstrate strategies and techniques in practice with both employers and supported employees
• Maintain records of progress and strategies to address periodic performance issues
• Conduct task and job analysis
• Access resources to identify and facilitate workplace accommodations and modification

Course 5: Contemporary Issues in Employment Services

This course addresses contemporary issues in employment services, including contemporary ethics, self-advocacy for adult customers, and customized employment.

Individuals will be able to:

• Create a foundation of ethics, based on the APSE Ethical Guidelines and the Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors.
• Explore guiding principles and review expectations of confidentiality and professional boundaries with customers.
• Identify how personal values impact ethical service delivery.
• Explore the purpose and recognize the key components of self-advocacy.
• Develop a toolbox of resources for assisting adult customers in building and measuring self-advocacy skills.
• Define customized employment, and understand how to provide this service.
• Understand the concept of Employment First in relation to this new service.

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If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Gina Oswald at gina.oswald@cornell.edu.