Finding a job in Austin — which has thousands of people moving here from across the country to seek employment — is tough for everybody. For students with developmental or mental disabilities this can seem almost an impossible proposition.

“Project SEARCH is a non-profit organization whose goal is to build job skills for students with disabilities, and to find a job placement that fits their needs and their skills to get them paid employment through a year-long internship,” SCORES teacher Nathan Pullen said. “They kind of run through and intern in Dell Children’s hospital and go through different rotations and build skills and try to find paying jobs to match those skills.”

The internship teaches individuals social skills needed for professional interactions with people and social interactions in general. During the internship the students also get the chance to learn more about themselves and their own skills to gain better success in the future and head in the right career path.

In order to meet requirements of an internship at Project SEARCH, a student must have met all the graduation requirements of high school, and have little to no behavioral problems. A student must be ready for a professional career within the nine months after they are trained. In the final 3 months, they will be expected to be ready to handle their career independently with a real paying job.

Project SEARCH has a very positive success rate and is known as the largest nonprofit healthcare system in the USA and receiving the 2014 “Living the mission and values award” from Ascension, and won two “Largest Employer” awards, one in 2009 and one in 2010.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the percentage of working-age people with disabilities in the labor force is about one-third that of the persons with no disability.

To combat this problem hospitals across the country have joined Project SEARCH. The Seton Healthcare system of hospitals in Austin has belonged to the program since 2007, reaching out to area high schools for to recruit potential internship candidates. Akins for example, has been a part of the program for 5 years and has helped 9 students obtain jobs after graduating in the past 2 years.

Renee Salvi a Project SEARCH teacher said Jermaine Williams and several other interns work in the cafeteria in the Seton hospital and gives patients the meal necessary according to their medical records.

“They work really hard to do so and also some interns made a full time job out of it,” Salvi said.

“I guess it makes me feel more independent and more advocated, it gives people one more year before having to go out on their own,” Project SEARCH intern Jermaine Williams said. “They get a chance to grow up and become more responsible and mindful with the work they do. They start to face the struggles of being an adult and gain first-hand experience of the hardships of adulthood and learn how to handle them. I definitely recommend the program to any students with disabilities, so they can learn what they need to do with a job and be better prepared for the world.”