JVS: a career development model for community rehabilitation programs - Jewish Vocational Service

American Rehabilitation,  Spring, 1998  by Alan Goldstein

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Traditional vocational rehabilitation dates back approximately 150 years with resulting service prototypes used today. Four of the original models of programs serving people with disabilities developed in those early years are described below:

* Goodwill Industries International was among the first initiatives and derived from services targeted to indigent people. Today, a vast international network of stores selling reprocessed goods and work centers provide employment and training services to large numbers of people with disabilities.

* The Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) evolved from child day care services developed by parents of mentally retarded children for those who were not eligible for public school programs. Today, myriad employment, training, and residential services are provided to people of all ages.

* The National Easter Seals Society model was based on services for children with disabling conditions arising from accidents and used a medical rehabilitation approach. Today, Easter Seals provides a variety of medical rehabilitation services for people of all ages and disabilities.

* The Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) model originally served refugees from Eastern Europe. Today, career development services are provided to people who are occupationally disadvantaged. JVS agencies specialize in employment and training programs serving people with disabilities, those who are economically disadvantaged, refugees, and dislocated family wage earners.

The Jewish Vocational Service of metropolitan Chicago originated in 1884 as the first JVS of what is now an international affiliated group of 30 located throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel. Although each is unique in responding to community needs and resources, the common mission is employment and the bond among them all is career development. For purposes of demonstrating career development as a service model for community rehabilitation programs (CRP's), Chicago JVS will be featured throughout this article, using examples of programs and services that are regularly found in many JVS agencies.

History

The annals of JVS point out that the initial need addressed was finding work for refugees fleeing Eastern Europe due to oppression and famine. Family members, friends, and neighbors banded together as volunteers in Chicago to welcome New Americans by helping them find jobs. Early agency records cite Maimonides (rabbinic authority, codifier, philosopher, and royal physician, 1135-1204):

"Anticipate charity by preventing poverty; assist the reduced fellowman, either by a considerable gift, or a sum of money, or by teaching him a trade, or by putting him in the way of business, so that he may earn an honest livelihood, and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his hand for charity. This is the highest step and the summit of charity's golden ladder."(1)

A contemporary translation of this philosophy is, "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; teach him to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime."

The volunteers' efforts continued through both World Wars. In addition to being homeless, unemployed, or victims of political strife, many new refugees arrived with physical and emotional disabilities. As the problems faced by the Chicago volunteers in finding work for veterans and refugees with disabilities increased, professionals replaced volunteers. The work of JVS expanded from job placement to inclusion of a counseling component, designed to help these war ravaged people to discover their capabilities and opportunities to achieve their preferred careers. Others who were unemployed and underemployed also benefitted from career counseling. Senior adults, recent college graduates, and family wage earners soon learned the advantages of career planning and JVS earned its reputation for individually tailored counseling and placement services.

For those who were unsuccessful in the job market, special training programs were created (i.e., watch repair) to help them become more marketable or realize ambitions of becoming entrepreneurs. Many refugees who immigrated in the post World War II years were not job ready and required rehabilitation to readjust to the world of work.

William Gelman, Ph.D., Executive Director of Chicago JVS at that time, gained prominence in the field of vocational rehabilitation technology and research. He established a laboratory in 1951 to create a simulated work environment and used the experience as a therapeutic tool to help people adapt to society through work. This vocational rehabilitation model, Adjusting People to Work,(2) was published and distributed internationally for others to emulate. Skills training and building confidence, stamina, and acceptable work habits were the driving forces for moving people from a protected environment to competitive employment. In 1953, this model was acknowledged by a Presidential Citation and government grants began to fund the expansion of this program. In addition to refugees, community residents who were mentally, emotionally, or physically disabled were also served.