Organizational Employment Services (OES)

The Larrabee Center is CARF accredited to provide Organizational Employment Services.  These services are provided to individuals with a mental illness, mental retardation, brain injury, or developmental disabilities.  OES has three components which are Sheltered Work, Community Participation, and Education.  Clients are paid wages based on performance evaluation and piece rates.  Job options include: processing goods for sale in the Thrift Store, sub-assemblies, packaging, mailings, sorting, product inspections, stocking shelves, clerking, and janitorial duties.  Clients have the opportunity to gain job experience in a realistic setting in the Receiving & Processing areas, Contract Room, Thrift Store, and Snack Bar.  Education and training in work ethics and work skills are an integral part of the program.  Staff assist each individual to work on specific objectives in order to maximize their community employability.  Community Participation is encouraged in a variety of ways.  Information about local and national news, job openings, community events, and leisure opportunities is shared daily in a Group discussion.  Clients learn how and where to access opportunities.  This setting also provides an opportunity to interact socially, increase natural supports, and improve communication skills.  Clients may also request individualized classes to increase academic skills such as reading, writing, math, budgeting, and computer skills.

HCBS PreVocational Services through the Intellectual Disability Waiver

PreVocational services are designed to prepare a person who has mental retardation for paid or unpaid employment, in skills which are not job task related.  These services include training skills for job readiness such as following directions, attending to tasks, task completion, problem solving, and safety and mobility training.  Training can also include appropriate dress, meal options for the workplace, appropriate supervisor/co-worker interaction, workplace communication, socialization, and phone skills.  PreVocational services are intended to have a more generalized result, as opposed to vocational training for a specific job or supported employment.  Services include activities that are not primarily directed at teaching specific job skills but more generalized habilitative goals.

Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services- Facility Worksite Assessments

Facility Worksite Assessment is a time limited assessment designed to assist clients who are referred through the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services to identify job goals.  The assessment incorporates individual choice based on interests, skills, and abilities along with medical, social, and employment history, and cultural data.  Assessments are individualized with input from the client.  The assessment includes several tools to measure work behaviors, work skills, work tolerance, learning style, and physical capacity.  The Larrabee Center offers paid work experiences at LVC during the assessment period.