In late March, all of us were faced with a reality the likes of which none of us had experienced and were forced to find our way in a new reality. For the Center for Human Services (CHS) Employment Services Department, we had to quickly shift the way in which we supported our individuals so that they could continue to work because many are “essential” workers.

For many employers, the risks associated with having on-site job coaching was too high, so we shifted how we provided services to those individuals. CHS had a plan for success and immediately, deployed devices and trained individuals as quickly as we could on how to utilize them so that we could continue to be right by the individual’s side – even if we weren’t physically there. This enabled us to remotely job coach with the use of technology so that the individual and the employer were both comfortable.

Some of our individuals contacted us because they were being furloughed from their current jobs and wanted to find jobs they could do in the interim. Due to the continued work by all our dedicated staff, we were able to secure jobs for those that had been laid off. We could not be prouder of the work of our dedicated job coaches and the loyalty of our individuals to their employers during this time.