Employment Supports

We offer Employment Supports for adults with developmental disabilities. Employment Supports are a continuum of supports focused on obtaining meaningful work. They include piecework in our workshop, enclaves, supported worksites, independent placements, as well as vocational training and career development training.

Employment supports are available to anyone over the age of 18, and determined eligible by the Rhode Island Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). All adults who receive services from DDD have a social worker already assigned to them and should contact that person to request employment support services.

The Office of Rehabilitative Services also offers funding for some of these services, but the funding ultimately will be provided by the Rhode Island Division of Developmental Disabilities, so it is important that the individual seeking these services contact their DDD social worker. The DDD social worker will then make a referral to Trudeau Memorial Center’s Universal Case Manager. The DDD social worker, Trudeau case manager, as well as the individual seeking Employment Supports, a family member, program staff and possibly a nurse or psychologist, would then convene as a team to evaluate needs and appropriateness of placement.

Career development training is offered within our Career Center. The Career Center offers:

• Academic Work
• As Well As A Broad Range Of Career Development Training
  • From Resume Writing And Interview Training To Specific Skills
  • Such As Customer Service
  • Money Counting
  • Computer Literacy

Vocational training is hands-on training opportunities that are for the most part community-based. Training activities provide opportunities to promote experience in potential careers of interest, personal growth, skill building and social networking.

Some of the community-based opportunities include training at:

• Rhode Island Hospital Oncology Units
• Hasbro Children’s Hospital
• Alzheimers Care Center
• Kent County Rehabilitation Center
• Providence Animal Shelter
• St. Kevin’s Church
• Donate Shop
• Goodwill, Salvation Army
• PetSmart

Workshop, enclaves, supported worksites, and independent work placements are all within the continuum of supported employment offered for job seekers to obtain meaningful employment experiences.

We believe that once interests and needs of those seeking jobs are assessed and valued, long-term relationships with employers can be established. Some of the employers we currently work with include:

• Newport Naval War College
• Liz Claiborne
• Crayons Day Care
• Citizens Bank Administrative Offices
• City of Cranston – Road Works
• McDonald’s
• Evelyn’s Norwood Inn
• Day-O-Lite
• Newport Creamery
• JONAH Community Center
• Stop & Shop
• Boston Billiards
• Electric Boat
• Custom Design
• K-Mart
• Fantastic Sams
• A.J. Martin Meat Distribution
• Walgreens
• Saugy Co.
• Gannon & Scott
• Pawtucket Red Sox
• Shaw’s
• Don Rodrigues Karate
• Roger Williams Greenhouse
• Meals on Wheels
• Ranaldi’s Bakery.

Employment Supports are primarily based at or out of our :

Trudeau Center
at 3445 Post Road
Warwick, Rhode Island 02886

Transportation may be provided by RIDE, the Trudeau Memorial Center, the family or the residential provider.

It is important to note that the individual accessing Employment Supports may choose how they wish to spend their DDD funding and may pick across all our services, even mix our services with another agency. The Office of Rehabilitation Services is also a funding source for these services.

For further information regarding Employment Supports at the Trudeau Memorial Center, please contact Joanne Savoie at 823-0051 ext. 332.