Community Mental Health ?ournal Volume 2, Number 2, Summer, 1966
A PRE-VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM HARD-CORE HANDICAPPED
FOR
MAURINE R. MILLER, PH.D.
As a result of a four year project for the emotionally handicapped, Indianapolis Goodwill Industries became interested in the number of people who could be taught work habits and work skills if the training period were long enough. The customary period when extended for some individuals past the three months period enabled them to meet with vocational success. At the same time individuals and organizations interested in the severely handicapped were becoming increasingly aware that their needs were not being met by existing vocational rehabilitation agencies. The Community Service Council of metropolitan Indianapolis thus requested Indianapolis Goodwill Industries to structure a special project which would study ways of effectively rehabilitating this group if such were possible. They were also asked to carefully study costs of such a service since financial data from workshops, when available, often indicated sums greatly in excess of the wages earned were expended in an effort to provide work opportunities for clients with poor prognoses.
posed plan by the Lilly Endowment and the Indianapolis Foundation. The duration of the program was planned for four years with the project being evaluated annually. Continuation was to be subject to review and approval of the Community Service Council at the end of the first two years. Although manual assemblies from the Industrial Services Division of the Goodwill Industries would be used exclusively in the beginning weeks, more complex tasks selected from the plant repair shops would be assigned when a client was ready. Such departments as shoe repair, spray painting, maintenance and janitorial, steam pressing and materials handling could provide valuable work trials and training. The placement counselor would attempt to find suitable placement opportunities for the trainees as the staff judged them ready for placement. Psycho-social services would be provided, parent cooperation would be elicited and recreational services developed for the clients. Intensive supervision of six clients to one supervisor was planned.
Funds for a Pre-Vocational Training Program for the Hard-Core Handicapped" were made available to carry out the pro-
Progress reports of the first 18 months have been compiled and are now available. Thirty-three clients with multiple disabili-
*Dr. Miller is Director of Psychological Services, Indianapolis Goodwill Industries. Progress reports may be obtained by writing to Paul Schmidt, Project Director, Indianapolis Goodwill Industries, 1635 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46222. 170
MAURINE R. MILLER
ties have been admitted to the program. Of the 33, 22 have intellectual deficits severe enough to interfere with vocational success (I.Q.'s below 80). Epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, paraplegia as well as emotional disorders are represented in the group. Most of them have had no work experience and have had only limited school experience. In addition to six hours per day on actual production work for which they are paid in accordance with the amount they produce, the clients meet in small groups scheduled weekly. At these meetings personal problems, difficulties in getting along with co-workers or supervisors, social activities and any other problems relating to their interests at the time are discussed. Individual counseling is available to them if a request is made or if a particular problem or crisis in their lives arises. The supervisor acts as an industrial foreman and never assumes the counseling role. But the counselor and supervisor maintain good communication between them so that they are at all times working toward the same goal for the client. Although this is a time consuming process, it is well worthwhile. The confusion to the client which can arise from any disparity in goals between the supervisor and the client can be most destructive of any progress. The services of a social worker are also available to the client and often financial problems, a disruption in the home situation or crises involving medical clinic applications or other community services arise which need the services of the social worker. The industrial medical services of the regular Goodwill Industries plant are also available to these clients. These include a thorough physical examination before admission and any attention to medical problems which may be needed during their stay in the Project. During the first year and a half of the Project, the productive capacity of the clients has increased significantly. The average hourly wage for the 32 clients who worked on piece-rated jobs increased from 52 cents per hour for the first week to $1.15 per hour for the last week on which they worked on such jobs. By the end of this
171
18-month period the number of weeks worked varied greatly from client to client, and this increase in average hourly earnings includes those who had been in the Project a short time, as well as those who had been in it for an extended period. The unit rates on the manual assembly jobs in the Industrial Services Division on which the clients worked are set according to industrial standards. Much of the work consisted of assembly of telephone parts for the Western Electric Company but regardless of the task on which the clients were placed, they were required to meet industrial quality control standards. Three research projects have been undertaken in connection with this Project. One is the validation of the Vocational Capacity Scale, developed by the MacDonald Training Center Foundation, Tampa, Florida. This Scale consists of eight subtests: Physical Capacity, General Health, Work Habits, Social Maturity, Pennsylvania BiManual Worksample, Wide Range Achievement Arithmetic, Motivation and Direction Following. The Scale shows good predictive capacity of the initial functioning of the clients in the workshop but over a long period of time, the Motivation subtest appears to be a better predictor than the total scale, Another study is concerned with the effect of parental attitudes on workshop achievement. A third area of investigation is a study in the use of operant conditioning techniques in rehabilitation under the direction of Harvey Narrol, Ph.D., Institute for Psychiatric Research, Indiana University School of Medicine. This study is concerned with work output in three severely deficient or erratic workship clients. The purpose of this preresearch effort is to intervene in the motivational problems of the subjects by the use of automated measurement and manipulation. Equipment is being designed to measure and influence the rate of insertion of individual terminals in the Western Electric terminal board. The apparatus also includes elements which communicate progress and //or contingent earnings to the client.
A PRE-VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM HARD-CORE HANDICAPPED
FOR
MAURINE R. MILLER, PH.D.
As a result of a four year project for the emotionally handicapped, Indianapolis Goodwill Industries became interested in the number of people who could be taught work habits and work skills if the training period were long enough. The customary period when extended for some individuals past the three months period enabled them to meet with vocational success. At the same time individuals and organizations interested in the severely handicapped were becoming increasingly aware that their needs were not being met by existing vocational rehabilitation agencies. The Community Service Council of metropolitan Indianapolis thus requested Indianapolis Goodwill Industries to structure a special project which would study ways of effectively rehabilitating this group if such were possible. They were also asked to carefully study costs of such a service since financial data from workshops, when available, often indicated sums greatly in excess of the wages earned were expended in an effort to provide work opportunities for clients with poor prognoses.
posed plan by the Lilly Endowment and the Indianapolis Foundation. The duration of the program was planned for four years with the project being evaluated annually. Continuation was to be subject to review and approval of the Community Service Council at the end of the first two years. Although manual assemblies from the Industrial Services Division of the Goodwill Industries would be used exclusively in the beginning weeks, more complex tasks selected from the plant repair shops would be assigned when a client was ready. Such departments as shoe repair, spray painting, maintenance and janitorial, steam pressing and materials handling could provide valuable work trials and training. The placement counselor would attempt to find suitable placement opportunities for the trainees as the staff judged them ready for placement. Psycho-social services would be provided, parent cooperation would be elicited and recreational services developed for the clients. Intensive supervision of six clients to one supervisor was planned.
Funds for a Pre-Vocational Training Program for the Hard-Core Handicapped" were made available to carry out the pro-
Progress reports of the first 18 months have been compiled and are now available. Thirty-three clients with multiple disabili-
*Dr. Miller is Director of Psychological Services, Indianapolis Goodwill Industries. Progress reports may be obtained by writing to Paul Schmidt, Project Director, Indianapolis Goodwill Industries, 1635 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46222. 170
MAURINE R. MILLER
ties have been admitted to the program. Of the 33, 22 have intellectual deficits severe enough to interfere with vocational success (I.Q.'s below 80). Epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, paraplegia as well as emotional disorders are represented in the group. Most of them have had no work experience and have had only limited school experience. In addition to six hours per day on actual production work for which they are paid in accordance with the amount they produce, the clients meet in small groups scheduled weekly. At these meetings personal problems, difficulties in getting along with co-workers or supervisors, social activities and any other problems relating to their interests at the time are discussed. Individual counseling is available to them if a request is made or if a particular problem or crisis in their lives arises. The supervisor acts as an industrial foreman and never assumes the counseling role. But the counselor and supervisor maintain good communication between them so that they are at all times working toward the same goal for the client. Although this is a time consuming process, it is well worthwhile. The confusion to the client which can arise from any disparity in goals between the supervisor and the client can be most destructive of any progress. The services of a social worker are also available to the client and often financial problems, a disruption in the home situation or crises involving medical clinic applications or other community services arise which need the services of the social worker. The industrial medical services of the regular Goodwill Industries plant are also available to these clients. These include a thorough physical examination before admission and any attention to medical problems which may be needed during their stay in the Project. During the first year and a half of the Project, the productive capacity of the clients has increased significantly. The average hourly wage for the 32 clients who worked on piece-rated jobs increased from 52 cents per hour for the first week to $1.15 per hour for the last week on which they worked on such jobs. By the end of this
171
18-month period the number of weeks worked varied greatly from client to client, and this increase in average hourly earnings includes those who had been in the Project a short time, as well as those who had been in it for an extended period. The unit rates on the manual assembly jobs in the Industrial Services Division on which the clients worked are set according to industrial standards. Much of the work consisted of assembly of telephone parts for the Western Electric Company but regardless of the task on which the clients were placed, they were required to meet industrial quality control standards. Three research projects have been undertaken in connection with this Project. One is the validation of the Vocational Capacity Scale, developed by the MacDonald Training Center Foundation, Tampa, Florida. This Scale consists of eight subtests: Physical Capacity, General Health, Work Habits, Social Maturity, Pennsylvania BiManual Worksample, Wide Range Achievement Arithmetic, Motivation and Direction Following. The Scale shows good predictive capacity of the initial functioning of the clients in the workshop but over a long period of time, the Motivation subtest appears to be a better predictor than the total scale, Another study is concerned with the effect of parental attitudes on workshop achievement. A third area of investigation is a study in the use of operant conditioning techniques in rehabilitation under the direction of Harvey Narrol, Ph.D., Institute for Psychiatric Research, Indiana University School of Medicine. This study is concerned with work output in three severely deficient or erratic workship clients. The purpose of this preresearch effort is to intervene in the motivational problems of the subjects by the use of automated measurement and manipulation. Equipment is being designed to measure and influence the rate of insertion of individual terminals in the Western Electric terminal board. The apparatus also includes elements which communicate progress and //or contingent earnings to the client.
