How We Work with You

You bring the desire to work and we match it with our skills to help you find the right job. Work contributes to financial security, provides challenges that lead to personal growth, and creates the opportunity to develop friendships and professional relationships. Our goal is to help you become successfully employed. A new job is a big leap toward an exciting new future – we are here to support and to celebrate with you.

When you choose Didlake to provide your Supported Employment Services, you are paired with a highly trained Employment Specialist who works one-on-one with you and your support team to ensure your employment success. We provide a network of employment opportunities — you provide the skills and determination.

Passionate Professionals Who Care About Your Success

Your Employment Specialist is part of a team of over 30 Didlake Employment Specialists and Employment Services Managers who are committed to supporting you and each other. We work together to find solutions to employment barriers.

At Didlake, we think our people are what sets us apart from other organizations. We set the bar high. Our employment services team members are avid communicators, problem solvers, and innovators with strong business and community connections throughout Maryland and Virginia. Your Didlake Employment Specialist is a career development expert focused on helping you find a job doing work that you want to do.

Your specialist takes the time to get to know you, your needs, and your skills. They connect you to employment opportunities and businesses in your community and share their expertise to help you resolve issues that may interfere with employment.

Experienced Professionals Who Know How to Help You Achieve Your Employment Goals

Your Employment Specialist helps you explore career options, get hired, and be successful in the workplace. Didlake Employment Specialists complete a comprehensive training program that includes classroom and on-the-job training as well as mentoring and a competency skills assessment.

Many of our specialists have earned professional credentials which allow them to provide additional services such as:

  • Benefits Counseling/WISA Service
    In Virginia, our certified Work Incentive Special Advocates (WISA) can help you understand how the wages you earn at your job impact your federal and state disability benefits. These benefits planning and counseling services are helpful when starting a new job, returning to work, seeking a higher paying job, or starting your own business.
  • Smart Technology Accommodation Training
    Our Employment Specialists have received state and national recognition for their innovative use of apps to support individuals at work. Our specialists keep up-to-date with the best new apps to help support time management, reduce anxiety, remember job tasks, communicate effectively, and improve your job performance. Learn more about iPod touch.
  • Positive Behavior Supports (PBS)
    The Didlake Employment Specialist team includes specially trained Positive Behavior Support Facilitators (PBSF). They help you learn to recognize triggers and manage challenging behaviors which may create barriers to reaching your employment goals.
All Didlake Employment Specialists receive training in the following areas:
  • Critical incident reporting and writing
  • Diversity
  • First aid and CPR
  • Human rights
  • Individualized service planning
  • Person-centered practices
  • Privacy and confidentiality of information
  • Safety
In addition, our team includes Employment Specialists who are:
  • Assistive technology experts
  • Certified Autism Specialists
  • Credentialed Work Incentive Special Advocates (WISA)
  • Fluent in American Sign Language (ASL)
  • Fluent in Spanish
  • Positive Behavior Support Facilitators (PBSF)
  • Recipients of a post-baccalaureate graduate Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorder through Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

 
Contact us to reach our Employment Services team.

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