BEST Internship Program – A NJ Collaborative Pilot

1. BEST Internship Program – A NJ Collaborative Pilot Angel Santos, NJ Credit Union League

2. BEST Internship Program Building Economic Strength Together (BEST) Internship Program was developed by the National Disability (NDI), Allies Inc. (Allies) and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) to integrate the disability community with the financial mainstream. • Best received funding from Kessler Foundation for two years.

3. BEST Internship Program won the 2010 Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Award for New Jersey

4. BEST Interns Project Goals • Integrate the NJ disability community with the NJ financial mainstream. • Provide a supported work experience opportunity at a local credit union.

5. Project Overview BEST Internship program utilizes a three-prong approach to achieve the project goals: • provide training to financial institution staff on understanding disability diversity and access, serving customers with disabilities, and individuals with disabilities as a market segment. • provide an eight week internship consisting of two weeks of job training and six week internships with credit unions throughout New Jersey for 52 individuals with disabilities (26 interns per year). • promote partner relationships between the disability community and the credit union industry.

6. What makes BEST different? • Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration • Use of the Supported Employment model • Recruitment of interns based upon clearly defined indicators of success • Clearly outlined expectations for all • Pre-internship training • Fair wages (thanks to support of Kessler Foundation)

7. Collaborative Partners • Kessler Foundation • National Disability Institute • Allies, Inc. • National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions • New Jersey League Credit Union League • National Credit Union Foundation – Real Solutions

8. Supported Employment Model • An important component of the BEST Interns is the use of the supported employment model. • Supported Employment (SE) is an employment model that includes specialized support to achieve the following outcomes: • opportunity to earn equitable wages and employment-related benefits, • development of new skills, • increased community participation, • enhanced self-esteem, self-sufficiency, and quality of life.

9. How does SE work? • Allies, Inc. (disability organization) meets with the intern to better understand their abilities and their support needs. • The support needs noted; such as a job coach, transportation, assistive technology, specialized job training, and/or individually tailored supervision are discussed and agreed upon. • As the intern begins and progresses in their internship, they have access to the supports as needed.

10. Expectations • Participating Credit Unions increase their understanding of the disability community. • Intern will receive on the job training that increases their potential for working in the Financial Services sector. • A letter of recommendation may be given to the intern upon successful completion of the internship so that they can present it to future employers. • You are neither required nor expected to make a job offer when the internship is over, though you are more than welcome to!

11. Pre-Internship Training • Participating Credit Unions receive training on disability etiquette, the disability market, supported employment and how to make the most of the supports available. • Interns receive two-weeks of training on the Credit Union history, basic elements of working in a credit union, financial literacy and soft skills that refresh/remind individuals who have been out of the job market of interpersonal skills and workplace culture. • Partners receive a survey from each credit union of their needs and any disability access issues to prepare for accommodation needs ahead of time.

12. Why this is a Win – Win • This is a viable market for credit unions • 54 million or one out of five Americans report a disability • 24.4% of the 113.1 million households in US contain at least one person with a disability • 54 percent of people with disabilities have no savings accounts and 69 percent lack checking accounts.

13. Why this is a Win – Win • Provides access to the disability community • Access to affordable financial services • Access to viable jobs/careers • Access to new partners

14. Keys to Success • Training • Credit Union • Interns/Employees • Partnerships • Disability Organizations • Trade Associations • Job Coach • Crucial in Helping to make the right match • Important for helping both the manager/intern/employee to identify and work through training needs

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19. What’s Next? • By years end, 52 individuals will have completed the BEST Interns internship. • Post-internship employment rate is 10% • Discussions are under way with a State office to explore long-term funding of the model. • NDI and the Federation are interested in connecting with communities interested in supporting the replication of this model in their community.

20. For More Information Angel Santos Business Consultant New Jersey Credit Union League (609) 448-2426 ext. 109 asantos@njcul.org Pamela Owens National Federation of CDCUs (212) 809-1850 ext. 215 powens@cdcu.coop Elizabeth Jennings National Disability Institute (561) 351-9140 ejennings@ndi-inc.org

21. THANK YOU!