Board of Directors
(As of July, 2006)

Corporation for Public Management

Programs for Developmentally Disabled

Helping those for whom life has special challenges

Working under contract with the State of Connecticut, Corporation for Public Management (CPM) provides non-institutional, or alternative, support programs for individuals about to graduate from High School and adults with the need of developmental support services. Programs are designed to meet the needs of persons sometimes with a low sense of self-esteem and/or those with a previous history of poor social performance. The agency has earned a highly favorable reputation for dealing successfully with many of this state's most challenging cases and for promoting their ability to live and thrive in a community setting.

CPM approaches each person receiving support with the dignity and respect due all individuals, meeting the inherent challenges of treatment with a high level of case worker interaction, patience and personal support. Results can be and frequently have been dramatic, translating into these clients' more positive attitude toward themselves and those around them and gradually resulting in improved behavior and noticeable progress toward being a consummate member of their community.

Five principal areas operate in partnership with the CT Department of Developmental Services. These include:

    Community Experience: encouraging those, with profound to moderate support needs, greater awareness and understanding of everyday life through direct interaction with people and organizations around them.

      Supported Employment: opportunities for those mild to moderate developmental needs to realize greater self-sufficiency through participation in organized work crews performing light contract work for community-based businesses.

      Supported Living: individually designed programs to assist persons with mild to moderate developmental support needs, who might face incarceration in the absence of alternative treatment.

      Community Living Arrangement: 24-hour supervised residential support in a home environment for groups of up to four persons needing developmental services support.

      Opportunities for Older Adults:  a senior program providing daily support for those who can no longer bear the rigors of employment.

Contact:   Eric D. Thomas, Vice President
                   Tel (413) 272-2200, Ext 269

Employment & Training

A major player in the privatization of welfare-to-work

Supported Work is one of CPM's best-known and most successful program areas. Working closely with MA Department of Transitional Assistance and a variety of community-based partner agencies, CPM employment programs match income-qualified men and women ready to enter the workforce with full and part-time jobs in business, industry and public service.  Massachusetts' ongoing welfare-to-work movement is a major focus of this effort.

 
Since their creation in the mid-1980s, our Supported Work and other job readiness programs have grown to be among the most successful state-supported employment services operated by a non-profit organization.  Currently, several hundred MA employers and approximately 800 CPM clients in search of brighter futures participate.  Employer samplings show that over 80 percent of successful graduates are still on the job at least 12 months after being hired.

One key factor in the success of CPM's Supported Work model is the exceptional degree of personalized case management brought to the job search process.  Few, if any other welfare-to-work approaches are able to equal CPM's level of hands-on support and help underscore reasons why this particular program is a leading welfare-to-work model of choice in Massachusetts.

Minimizing barriers
At the local level, case managers guide individuals referred by MA Department of Transitional Assistance through an eight-week Supported Work orientation. Solutions to important work-related family issues such as child care and access to public transportation are part of the practice of minimizing barriers to clients' finding and keeping good jobs.

Supported Work provides a continuum of employment assistance to TAFDC recipients, including on-the-job training and support services leading to permanent unsubsidized employment for recipients who are at most risk of long-term dependency on public assistance.  The program offers a myriad of services including outreach and recruitment, program orientation and intake, testing and assessment, job development and marketing, pre-worksite training, supported worksite experience and post-placement follow-up in addition to extensive case management and referral services.

Supported Work works from the employer perspective as well. Business incentives for those companies participating in the program include a subsidized on-the-job training period during which CPM assumes liability for hiring, payroll administration and other costs until the new employee eventually joins the payroll. Federal income tax credits are often available to employers as well.

Contact:   Najla Nassar, Senior Vice President
                   Ken Demers, Administrative Director
                   (413) 442 - 2946

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PfC
	An affiliate of Partners for Community