Goodwill Industries Of Kanawha Valley, Inc.
"Providing job training to people with barriers to employment since 1954"

TEMPORARY SERVICES PROGRAM

             Goodwill Industries Temporary Services Program is available for anyone with a physical or mental disability as well as the economically disadvantaged. This service was created as a direct result of the State Use Law, which requires state agencies to first seek temporary employment through the disabled work force. To fulfill this function a partnership was created between Goodwill Industries of Kanawha Valley, Inc., WVARF, DRS and the various state agencies. The complexity of this partnership and how smoothly it functions in serving the needs of persons with disabilities is amazing. Processes have been developed that help provide quality positions within state government for qualified persons with a disability. Persons with disabilities are hired through Goodwill Industries of Kanawha Valley Inc. Temporary Services Program and placed in varying state agencies with pay ranges from $6.00 to $8.00 dollars an hour. Job classifications include accounting, data entry, office assistant, general office, advanced level data processing, entry-level data processing and general labor. State offices have hired some of the temporary employees as permanent full-time state employees.

The advantages to the participant’s in the program are numerous:

 1) The participants are offered prestigious positions with state government, which allow them access to permanent placement within the state and the ability to make contacts in private industry for permanent placement.

 2) This may be the initial placement for many persons with disabilities and they may not succeed at the first placement position. This does not affect our policy of replacing the person in another state agency immediately as long as the person has displayed a willingness to work. The participants’ self-worth and fragility of condition is neither diminished nor aggravated through an alternative placement since we approach the transfer as a counseling opportunity to rebuild the participants’ confidence and assist individuals in improving upon the issues which lead to the initial difficulties.

In addition to the placement of persons with a disability we have placed individuals who are classified as economically disadvantaged. Many persons in this category often have some form of undiagnosed learning disability, depression or other form of mental illness. Many of these conditions are revealed during their initial work experience and they are referred for additional assistance to a Community Mental Health Center or other appropriate agency where the may be eligible for additional benefits and/or medication which will allow them to more productively function within not only the work environment but also the social environment.

 3) The population Temporary Services works with is often overlooked because they do not require job coaches or intensive services but are unable to get or maintain a position without minimal supports. Funding sources often do not exist to meet the needs of individuals, which are not severely disabled.

 4) Temporary Services allows the employees the opportunity to be fully integrated in a work setting without the stigma often associated with a person with a disability. These persons are offered increased social and community interaction solely based upon the fact they are meeting new people and functioning in a non-sheltered environment. The Temporary Service Employees are the Goodwill ambassadors for all persons needing a little assistance to become active members of society.

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