Affiliations: Department of Occupational Therapy, Duquesne
University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Jaime Phillip Muñoz, PhD,
OTR, FAOTA, Assistant Professor, Duquesne University, Department of
Occupational Therapy, 219 Health Science Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA.
Tel.: +1 412 396 5950; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The homeless population in the US has dramatically increased in the
past two decades. People who are homeless often lack skills sets such as stress
management and social skills, independent living skills, and skills for
vocational and leisure engagement. Best practice vocational education and
training programs for individuals who are homeless recognize that success in
the worker role often hinges on a person's capacity to manage day-to-day
living. Life skills and pre-employment training are essential components of
vocational programs but no more important than interpersonal skill development
including anger management, developing self esteem and motivation, building
goal setting capacity, and skills for money management, personal budgeting and
self-advocacy. These areas of performance have all been traditionally included
in occupational therapy's domain of practice. This article describes Project
Employ, a grant funded supportive employment program that has grown out of
collaboration between Duquesne University's Department of Occupational Therapy
and Bethlehem Haven, an emergency shelter and residential recovery program and
primary service provider for homeless people in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The
purpose of this article is to describe the history, structure and outcomes of
Project Employ.
Keywords: Supported employment, community programming, community-university partnership
