SC Vocational Rehab helping OC Residents get back to Work

Help is available to people with disabilities looking for work in Oconee and Pickens counties. The South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department provides an array of services to these individuals, explains Anna Connelly, business development specialist with the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department in Seneca.  “We have a full range of programs that we offer and when someone comes in and applies then we make sure they are eligible through medical records or evaluations and then they can actually work in our programs.  For example, the training center and all of our offices have a training center.  The clients there learns how to work in an environment such as a regular workforce, so, working with co-workers, coming in on time, dressing appropriately.  They build stamina from being in the training center.  We also have programs where we can work with community members, which are our business partners.  We send the clients out into the community working with businesses for on the job training and we will fund that for up to 80 hours.  The client gets a good feel for that job to see if they are able, they like it and it is a good fit for them.  However, the business partner also gets a good trial run as well to make sure that client matches with their needs.  We have job coaching for that as well, so if the client is out there in the community and the business partner happens to see something that doesn’t quit work or that needs some tweaking, we will send a counselor out that helps with that client better perform in that environment.  Those are just a couple of the programs.”  Many of the clients at the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department are highly motivated but need help developing work skills.  More than 400 businesses and industries statewide work with the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department to prepare clients for the workplace and hundreds more take advantage of their skills when they are ready.  The Oconee and Pickens Work Training Center is located on Wells Highway in Seneca or visit them online at www.scvrd.net to learn more.