CITIZENS DEVELOPMENT CENTER

U & i's work center program provides vocational training, life skills instruction, and paid work opportunities to individuals with severe disabilities so they can develop essential work and soft skills and be successful in their most independent work environment. Clients learn work skills while performing packaging and assembly jobs. Techniques such as breaking the job into smaller steps and adaptive aids like counting boards are used to enable our clients to complete a variety of tasks. Soft skills training is provided throughout the day using positive reinforcement, instruction, guidance, and role-play. Classroom instruction is also provided to reinforce skills learned during work training and teach new life and soft skills. Topics include safety, communication, socialization, and work-readiness. Social activities, such as parties, are scheduled to further develop interpersonal skills. As each client has unique obstacles to employment, individualized goals are identified using a person-centered planning model. A subcomponent of this program, enhanced day habilitation, provides additional life skills instructions for individuals who have difficulty participating in a full-day vocational program due to medical, behavioral, or attention challenges and/or require additional assistance in adaptive skills. In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, achieve served 120 individuals in this program.