Rehabilitation program grows 400 percent

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Testing technician True Herr (center) demonstrates to a client the VALPAR Work Station System that tests form perception, motor skills and manual dexterity while grad assistant Guadalupe Hernandez (left) prepares the sorting station.

by Kim Watkins

For most people, finding employment is just a part of life: complete an application, go for the interview, and, eventually, find a job.

However, for some people - such as students with severe disabilities, worker's compensation clients, and non-English speaking citizens - it's not that easy.

Enter Dr. Charles Arokiasamy, coordinator of the Rehabilitation Counseling and Evaluation Center in the School of Education and Human Development, George Searles, the center's director, a staff eight counselors and technicians, and students.

From its testing centers in the Atrium of the Education Building, Arokiasamy's team assists such individuals by determining job suitability using unique and pioneering techniques that do not require the use of language. The center conducts work-simulation tests that require the clients to perform clerical tasks like sorting and filing. From the tests (which also check for skills such as manual dexterity) the center develops a vocational plan that highlights a client's strengths.

"We try to match the client's interest with their aptitude and achievement levels," said Searles. He added that the center advises clients about what they need to do to obtain a job - such as earning a GED, taking remedial or preparatory classes, or enrolling in job training.

Arokiasamy said the center is especially valuable to disabled persons, noting that two-thirds of them do not have a job.

He said the center identifies workplaces with reasonable accommodations and focuses on presenting people's strengths to prospective employers.

The rehabilitation program has grown tremendously in recent years with a 400 percent increase in enrollments in just one year, from 220 clients to 900. Arokiasamy said that in the last three years the budget went from a mere $60,000 to more than a quarter of a million dollars. The staff has increased from one-and-a-half positions to about 15.

Searles said that the majority of the clients come from the Department of Employment and Temporary Assistance CalWorks program, which provides an average of 80 individuals per month. The center also works with four to eight worker's compensation clients per month and about 10 Fresno State students with disabilities per semester.

The Rehabilitation Counseling and Evaluation Center is operated by the Rehabilitation Graduate Program.