Presentation by Malgorzata Gorący (President, OSTOJA Association, Poland) on the occasion of the EESC LMO conference on 'Excluded or included' in Brussels on 6 November 2012.

1. Małgorzata Gorący
The Lower Silesia Association
for Children and Youth with Cerebral Palsy „OSTOJA”
The experience of the Wroclaw TRENER
programme –
When impossible becomes possible”
Brussels 06.11.2012

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The Wroclaw TRENER programme
A result of cooperation between:
 Disability NGOs (WSON, OSTOJA)
 Local employers
 Institutions supporting the programme
financially (local authorities of Wrocław
and national found PFRON)
„TRENER” was launched in 2002 and is based on the „Job coaching”
model which has been actively implemented for the last 30 years by
Mecklenburg Open Door Agency – Supported Employment Agency in
Charlotte (North Carolina, USA).

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Effective forms of employment for people with disabilities
in the open job market
Supported employment
is the most effective form of
employment
for disabled people who have the
biggest difficulties with finding
work on their own and with
maintaining emploment
in the open job market.

4. 4
JOB COACHING Model
is a change of approach towards the activization of
people with disabilities in the open job market
from traditional services
TRAIN  PLACE
to
SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT model approach
PLACE  TRAIN  SUSTAIN
Learning the job on the job
with the support of a personal job coach

5. 5
The participants of Wroclaw programme
Between 2002 and 2012 we supported 135 people (approx. 90 per year)
• People with moderate and severe mental disabilities, mental disorders
and coexisting disfunctions (seeing, hearing, speech, epilepsy)
• People with low level of education and lack of qualifications:
83 % - graduates of special vocational schools
98 % - no work experience
• Client age: 20 – 55 years old,
• Client gender: 42 % - female, 58 % - male
In 2012 the programme is realized by 8 supported employment coaches
(phychologists, pedagogues, occupational therapists
trained in job coaching)

6. The assumptions and standards of effective Job
Coaching:
 There are no special posts or particular sectors for disabled
people – the employer recruits because they have a need and
our client is the appropriate candidate for the job post.
 Same rights and same expectations result in satisfaction,
higher self-esteem and motivation to self-development .
 Individual approach to each employee.
6

7. 7
The assumptions and standards of effective Job
Coaching:
 Job coach is effective when they believe that everyone can
work.
 Job coach does not ask „IF”, but „HOW” to employ a client.
 Job coach's support must be an ongoing and consistent process.
 Job coach models the relations between the client and their team
of coworkers – creating a natural environment for support in the
workplace.
 Job coach creates a positive image of a disabled person as an
employee.
 Job coach is available both for the employee and for the
employer.
 Job coach's presence means actual equal opportunities and
opportunity for permanent employment and social inclusion for
the disabled person.
 Job coach's presence gives the employer a „feeling of security”
when managing a disabled employee.

8. 8
5 steps to success
The success of supported employment comes from consistent support
to the disabled person delivered in 5 STEPS:
 Evaluation and preparation of the client in terms of personal, social
and work-related skills and abilities
 Finding an optimal job post for the client
 Analysis and adaptation to the client's needs
 Meeting with the team, induction and on-the-job training at the
workplace until full independence
 Long-term support for the client, employer and the client's family,
as required

9. 9
Job coaches work in accordance with the „continuous
support” rule
„only as much support as
necessary, as much autonomy
and self-sufficiency as
possible”

10. 10
Our arguments for the employer
Why employ a mentally disabled person supported by a job coach:
 The company will have a reliable, fully motivated and engaged employee
 The job coach guarantees selecting an employee best suited for the
particular job post
 A disabled team member contributes to an improved atmosphere at work
 The job coach prepares and trains the client for the particular post
 The job coach team guarantess help in solving problems at the client's
workplace
 The company is perceived as a socially responsible enterprise

11. The employer about employee …
(Clip - Hotel Manager)

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Sustainability of employment as an effect of job coaching
In 2012, 39 employers in the Wroclaw open job market benefited from
supported employment.
We have 25 „apprenticeship” job posts which prepare for paid employment.
Types of contract and working hours:
Permanent contract (93 %) – from ¼ time to full time
Long-term fixed time contracts
Flexible, changeable working hours in most cases
From 2002 to 2012: 90 clients found employment, including 70 people who
maintained the job for over 12 months
(60 people have worked continuously since starting the job)
1 2 years 3 4 5 6 7 8 years 9 years 10
year years years years years years years
13 14 5 9 7 10 5 1 5 2
2
people people people people people people people person people people

13. In this way impossible becomes possible
(clip Robert 1 and clip Robert 2)

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
m.goracy@ostoja.org.pl