Adolescent Prevocational Services in Mississippi

Learn about our prevocational services at Millcreek of Magee Treatment Center in Mississippi

Millcreek, a behavioral health treatment facility in Mississippi, offers Prevocational services as a part of the Home and Community Based Services Waiver program.  This program develops individualized activity plans which include activities that are directed toward the development of employment-related skills in a facility-based, non-work environment.  Activities provided during Prevocational services are designed to teach habilitative goals rather than job-specific skills.  We believe that the best place to learn job-specific skills is by taking part in a job that is within the community; therefore, each individual’s Plan of Care is designed to provide them the ability to achieve a quality of life that is similar to that of any other citizen who would like to work in the community.  The overall goal of this program is to support the individual so that they can participate in work-related activities with as much independence as possible, enhancing each individual’s quality of life.

How Millcreek of Magee Treatment Center advocates for competitive community employment

Our treatment facility in Mississippi advocates for competitive community employment for all individuals in our Prevocational programs.  Due to the fact that 40-hour work weeks of competitive employment are often not feasible for people with significant disabilities, we utilize Prevocational services as an adjunct to Supported Employment.  The more competitive employment a person with significant disabilities receives, the less Prevocational services will be utilized in our facility.  The term “Prevocational” is then true to its original meaning in that people with disabilities are not left in segregated, sheltered workshop programs all of their lives.  Instead, they are able to be active, productive, and successful members of their communities.

Personal development at Millcreek of Magee Treatment Center in Mississippi

Personal development at our treatment facility is accomplished in Prevocational programs through the individuals’ daily choice of activities to participate in, in and out of typical community settings used by individuals who do not have disabilities.  Individual outcomes will be set using an ecological system of teaching, which requires personal development to occur in the most natural setting available.

Outcomes and programs at Millcreek of Magee Treatment Center in Mississippi

Through our facility’s person-centered planning process, outcomes and programs will be selected by the individual and/or their legal representative for daily and weekly participation which promote our values to encourage and support:

•     Community presence
•     Community participation
•     Dignity
•     Choice
•     Societal contributions
•     Safety

The goal of the prevocational services at Millcreek of Magee Treatment Center in Mississippi

The underlying habilitative goals are those that will allow a person to obtain and sustain a job in a traditional work setting.  The habilitative goals of these programs include motor skill development or the development of adaptive devices or supports to perform tasks that will contribute to an employer’s overall success.  This, therefore, allows individuals with disabilities to not be excluded or isolated from work in settings that typically employ people who do not have disabilities.

Community inclusion at Millcreek of Magee Treatment Center in Mississippi

Millcreek, a treatment facility in Mississippi, recognizes that traditional sheltered workshop programs are not ideal for effectively securing competitive employment in an inclusive environment utilized by people without disabilities and that these activities can sometimes be detrimental to that outcome.  We firmly believe that the severity of one’s disability should not limit access to the community; therefore, all of the programs offered at our facility aim to promote personal development in domains that lead to full community inclusion.  Facility-based activities will be provided at the personal choice of each individual.

What to expect from the prevocational services at Millcreek of Magee Treatment Center in Mississippi

Accessible transportation is available at our treatment facility to shuttle all participants to and from the program sites and to and from community activities throughout the day.  There will be a minimum ratio of one staff to every five individuals in our programs engaged in the prevocational services on-site, depending on the needs of the individuals.

Our treatment facility in Mississippi offers prevocational programs at a minimum of 5 days per week, 6 hours per day.  Individuals engaging in this program will be offered opportunities for exposure to work in community settings.  If the individual initially chooses to decline, staff will continue to offer opportunities for community integration and employment at different intervals while the individual participates in on-site programs.  Community integration activities will take place in our facility in groups of three or less with at least one assigned staff.  Each individual’s desire for community employment will be documented and provisions for supported employment will be available to each individual.  Millcreek of Magee in Mississippi maintains an open-door policy for people who wish to return to the prevocational program if community employment ends in the future.