School to Career

Connecting students to careers

KenCrest has provided employment-related supports to high-school-aged students to connect them to careers and various employment opportunities.

School-aged services are most successful when a team approach is utilized. We love working with teams using person-centered planning strategies, including Charting the Life Course, to help young adults identify their career dreams and develop plans.

Each program collaborates with the host business, the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), the participating school district, and the Pennsylvania Office of Intellectual Disabilities Services.

Services are available in Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania to young adults ages 15-21 or those considered by their local school district to be "transitional age."

KenCrest’s employment team partners with school districts or individual families to provide young people with career-related supports, including career planning, work assessments, community mapping, resume development (traditional, visual, or electronic), personal website development, interview preparation, internships, job placement, job training, and long-term supports.

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Project SEARCH is a one-year, on-site job training program for students in their last year of high school. It combines classroom instruction with practical job training within a medical setting, with support from a KenCrest on-site educator and job coach.

Project SEARCH was born in 1996 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Nursing Administrator Erin Riehle became frustrated with staff turnovers and wanted to create a better solution: working with young adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The program would have a twofold process, providing young adults with first-rate on-site job training and solving staffing issues.

Our Project SEARCH program, located in Phoenixville, PA, is a partnership with Phoenixville Hospital – Tower Health, KenCrest Employment Services, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Chester County MH/IDD, Montgomery County Office of Developmental Disabilities, and school districts.

Contact Us

For more information on any of these School to Career services, please contact Jessica Birkmire at Jessica.Birkmire@kencrest.org or 215-429-6639. Please take a moment to review our intake/referral process.