Employer engagement that works: The European expansion of project SEARCH

Project SEARCH is an employer-led approach to training young people with learning (intellectual) disabilities for employment in substantial paid careers. It is a one-year school-to-work transition program that is designed for students whose goal is competitive employment. The program takes place in a business setting. Students are totally immersed in the workplace, which facilitates the teaching and learning process through continuous feedback and acquisition of employability and competitive work skills. The Cincinnati-based Project SEARCH leadership team was invited by the English government to introduce the Project SEARCH model in the UK and to provide technical assistance for program start-up. The first program sites resulting from this initiative were hosted by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, with their partner Serco, with their first students graduating in 2009. Expansion of the program has continued beyond the initial introduction so that there are now twenty-four programs in the United Kingdom and one in the Republic of Ireland. This manuscript describes the challenges, successes, and lessons learned in the process of adapting this program, which was developed in the U.S., to the European disability resource system.