National Skills Summit

National Skills Summit
Innovative Initiatives: High Tech and Sciences

Abilities, Inc. at the National Center for Disability Services, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory: Laboratory Assistant Training Program

The Challenge:

To provide people with disabilities the experience and training they need to develop a successful career in laboratory sciences.

The Solution:

Develop a comprehensive laboratory training program for people with disabilities, using the educational expertise of a national training organization and the resources of a major research laboratory

The Partners:

National Center for Disability Services, a national non-profit organization, enables children and adults with disabilities to fulfill their academic and professional potential through education, vocational training, research, and rehabilitation services.

Abilities, Inc., a non-profit organization with more than 50 years of experience, helps people with disabilities move into the workforce by providing employment evaluation, training and placement services to more than 1,800 adults each year. Abilities, Inc. is a corporation of the National Center for Disability Services

U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory creates and operates facilities available to university, industrial, and government personnel for basic and applied research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, and in selected energy technologies. The laboratory is operated by Brookhaven Science Associates, a non-profit research management company, under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Story:

In December 1999, Abilities, Inc. developed the Laboratory Assistant Training Program, a new laboratory training program for people with disabilities at the Brookhaven Lab in Suffolk County, New York. Housed in Brookhaven's Medical Department and taught by instructors from the National Center for Disability Services, the program provides lectures, hands-on projects, laboratory tours, and internships. Students learn about laboratory procedures, protocols and equipment. Up to 12 students enroll in the 15-week Laboratory Assistant Training program each semester. By the end of the course, students are prepared for entry-level positions in clinical, pharmaceutical, environmental, and research laboratories.

Once students have completed the program, staff at the Brookhaven National Laboratory prepare the graduates for interviews and assist in finding placements for them. Abilities, Inc. has developed relationships with several Long Island employers who have hired and continue to hire graduates of the program: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Certified Analytical Group, Inc., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Dunhill Staffing Systems, Dupont Pharmaceutical Company, H2M Group, Impath, JLC Consultants, LabCorp of America, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Quest Diagnostics, Inc., and Shiel Medical Laboratory.

The Laboratory Assistant Training Program is the product of a successful collaboration between three different organizations that share resources in order to help people with disabilities secure careers in the laboratory sciences. Abilities, Inc. brings the vision for the program and the management responsibilities; the National Center for Disability Services contributes its expertise in developing the training curriculum and running the classes; and the Brookhaven National Laboratory offers the facilities and support necessary to run a laboratory training program of this caliber.

Before this partnership, Abilities, Inc. already possessed a remarkable record in workforce development. Their existing programs trained more than 60 people annually, with a job placement rate of over 85 percent and a 450-person alumni network of people with disabilities who have secured jobs in laboratory sciences.

A Model of Innovation:

Laboratory science is complex, intricate, and precise. It is also lucrative. By opening the door for people with disabilities, Abilities, Inc., the National Center for Disability Services, the Brookhaven National Laboratory are putting to work some of America's most capable workers.

Contacts:

Francine M. Tishman
Executive Director National Business and Disability Council
Abilities, Inc. at National Center for Disability Services
201 I.U. Willets Road
Albertson, NY 11507
516-465-1480 (p)
516-747-2046 (f)
516-747-5355 (TTY)
www.business-disability.com

Lorraine Merdon
Diversity Manager
Brookhaven National Laboratory
BSA, Building 185A
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973
631-344-3318 (p)
516-344-7163 (f)