Services We Provide

Community Participation Supports

Being an active part of the community is important to anyone. Serve, Inc.’s Community Participation Supports (CPS) program provides opportunities for adults (18 years or older) with disabilities to gain independence and develop the specific skills they need to become active participants in their communities in Bradford and Sullivan Counties. The program focuses on identifying and meeting the needs and goals of the individual. Upon admission to our program, a comprehensive functional assessment will be completed on each individual to identify the individual’s needs, their strengths, likes and dislikes.

The assessment will assist in designing programs that will meet these needs and build on individual strengths. In addition to participating in community recreation and other activities, such as bowling, shopping, volunteering, and attending community events, the program includes hands-on activities such as, arts and crafts, reading, games, current events, weather, and social skills training in community inclusive settings as much as possible.

Serve, Inc. strives to provide opportunities for individuals to remain active in order to maintain good physical and mental health. Through the CPS programs offered by Serve, Inc., individuals are given the opportunities to develop relationships both inside and outside of Serve, while learning and applying life skills that promote greater independence.

S.W.A.T. - Serve Inc's Work Academics and Transition Program

"Enter to Learn, Leave to Achieve!"

Serve Inc.'s Work, Academics and Transition Program (S.W.A.T.) is designed specifically for high school students who qualify for school to work transition planning. The unique program is sponsored by several local school districts in Bradford and Sullivan Counties to ensure students with IEPs (Individual Education Plan) have the opportunity to learn new skills and prepare them for competitive employment and independent living. The program is designed to take advantage of the student's strengths and preferences in order to identify the career path with the maximum potential for the student.

In partnership with a school district's Special Education Department, students, parents, and community support services, all full-time students will receive individualized academic instruction based on the goals set forth in the IEP. These services are provided by Pennsylvania certified teachers holding Bachelor's of Science degrees in Education, certifications in Special Education K-12, and are highly qualified in the four core subjects.

Full-time and part-time students will learn job skills and receive community work experiences at several local businesses. Job coaches and academic instructors work together to develop strategies to support the student's successful performance in the classroom and job performance.

Life skills training focuses on the acquisition of skills such as money management, banking, shopping, simple meal planning and preparation.

Pre-Employment Transition Services

Serve, Inc. is proud to partner with the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to offer many new and innovative pre-employment transition services for students as well as adult supported employment services. The following is a brief description of the services offered to assist in better planning for transition into post-secondary training and/or competitive employment.

Pre-Employment Transition Services include group and individualized services to help students gain an increased understanding of their options after leaving high school.

Group Services

Independent Living Skills Training
Independent living skills training will be provided in a group format to assist students with disabilities in developing the skills needed to live independently.

Self-Advocacy Training
Self-advocacy training will be provided in a group format to teach students with disabilities disability awareness, advocating during the IEP process, understanding the transition process, and advocating for themselves in post-secondary education, employment, and when receiving social services.

Work Readiness Training
Workplace readiness training will provide students with knowledge needed to find and maintain competitive integrated employment. Curriculums may include soft skills training, interview skills, job readiness, job-seeking skills, HR practices, and other skills needed to become “workplace ready.”

Individualized Services

Job Shadowing
Job shadowing will provide students with disabilities a one- to five-day job shadowing experience in an occupation of interest within the community. Students will be provided an opportunity to shadow employees and obtain an overview of the knowledge, tasks, and abilities needed to work in a particular field.

Work-Based Learning Experiences
Students will participate in work-based learning experiences, which may include in-school or after-school opportunities in the community. Students will be provided options for work experiences that teach skills needed to obtain competitive integrated employment or transition to post-secondary training.

Identification
Service to assist a student in obtaining a Pennsylvania state identification card or replacement card.

Travel Training
Services offered to students with disabilities who need assistance to increase their independence in mobility and travel.

In-Home & Community Services

Serve, Inc.’s In Home & Community Services are an individualized services designed to assist individuals to acquire, maintain, and improve the skills necessary for independence and meaningful community engagement. This service is a creative effective way to develop needed community based skills at a pace and in an environment that promotes real life training and support in a natural environment.

This is a direct service (face-to-face) provided in home and community settings to assist individuals in acquiring, maintaining, and improving self-help, domestic, socialization, and adaptive skills necessary to reside successfully in home and community-based settings.

The following is a list of some of the skills developed through this service: access to and use of community resources, such as public transportation, recreational areas, volunteer services, and community associations; financial stability (budgeting, banking, record keeping, and future planning); assistance in self advocacy; health, nutrition, and exercise choices as well as home and community safety; and involving friends, relatives, and advocates as part of the individual’s support planning team.

Adult Supported Employment Services

Community Based Work Assessment (CBWA)
Assessment conducted in a community employment setting with the purpose of helping the customer learn about his or her abilities and to determine if competitive integrated employment (CIE) is an appropriate vocational goal.

Supported Employment Support Plan (SESP)
Reviews all evaluations and assessments an individual has completed to determine the level of support and services the customer may need to obtain and maintain CIE.

Non-Performance Based Supported Employment (NPBSE)
Job Mentoring
Job mentoring is for customers who may have the skills needed to perform the essential duties of the job but need intensive and frequent support to obtain and/or maintain employment.

Job Retention
Job retention is for customers who are currently working at a job within his or her capacities and needs on-site support to learn or relearn job tasks to retain their employment.

Intermittent Supported Employment
Intermittent supported employment is intended for customers who need short-term, sporadic assistance to help them maintain employment, particularly in situations where the customer may be in jeopardy of losing a job.

Performance Based Supported Employment (PBSE)
Job Development
Development includes activities that prepare the customer, the employment site and/or the employer for a customer obtaining employment and are intended to continue until the customer starts a job that matches the employment goal on the Individualized Plan for Employment.

Job Placement
Placement services begin at job acquisition and are provided up to the first 40 hours of employment and involve direct, on-site job coaching provided to the customer to lean job tasks and acclimate to the employment setting.

Job Maintenance
Job maintenance involves direct, on-site job coaching provided to the customer to maintain employment and assist in achieving stability.

Job Stabilization
Stabilization occurs when the customer’s work performance reaches a level acceptable to the employer and the job coaching and related support services have diminished to a level necessary to maintain the customer in competitive integrated employment.

Case Closure
Case closure occurs when a customer’s case meets the criteria for case closure when the customer has been employed for 90 calendar days past job stabilization or their maximum level of stability.

Extended Services
Supports given to customers who have not yet achieved stability on the job or need additional supports to maintain employment. (These services are provided by OVR only in cases where there are no alternative funding sources.)

Transitional Employment Program (TEP)
A series of temporary job placements in competitive integrated work with ongoing support services for customers with the most significant disabilities due to severe mental illness. (Provider organizations interested in providing Transitional Employment services will need to develop a Letter of Understanding with OVR and should contact their local OVR District Office to learn more about the process.)