At the private agency I worked for, we had a placement department that attempted to put folks into jobs. Getting the interviews lined up was easy. The difficult part was getting folks to show up for the interview, accept the job, and then show up for work regularly. They really had no clue.
I worked with the seriously disabled prior to that. What I found was that you can train most people to do something. The real issue is always attitude.
However, some folks are so disabled that they cannot work a full time job, or even a part-time job because of physical and mental limitations (as opposed to behavioral limitations). These folks are usually the most heartbreaking to work with. They want to work so bad, but it is just not in them.
Then there are those who work the system, going from one 'program' to the next. Those folks just piss you off.
I had to get out of the Vocational Rehab field. Too frustrating for me.
"At the private agency I worked for, we had a placement department that attempted to put folks into jobs. Getting the interviews lined up was easy. The difficult part was getting folks to show up for the interview, accept the job, and then show up for work regularly. They really had no clue.
"I worked with the seriously disabled prior to that. What I found was that you can train most people to do something. The real issue is always attitude."
***
A friend of a friend had the responsibility of finding work for people on public assistance. She once had the task of getting something like 25 or 50 or so applicants to interview for jobs with a company that made and assembled drapery rods and other such hardware. She contacted the applicants, made appointments for them, even offered transportation and child care. Still out of all the prospective applicants, only three actually showed up for the interviews.
As for the disabled -- I had a friend, Bill(now deceased) who was born with cystic fibrosis...terribly debilitating disease. Yet, he graduated from college and worked in the payroll department of a local company. Bill could have stayed home and collected a check, and no one would have faulted him for doing so, but he refused to be dependent on anyone. When he could not longer go into the office, Bill's employer arranged for a computer and modem to be installed in his home so he could work when he was able. He worked until about a week before he died.
When I see these moochers not making any effort to be responsible for themselves, I think of Bill...and I get really mad (at the lowlifes, not Bill).