Pierce County Resource Guide to Services and Supports for Individuals
Who Experience Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities
(section links below).
Please call our office at 253.564.0707 to make arrangements to pick up your copy!
Dear Reader:
This Pierce County Resource Guide is dedicated to the hard work and commitment of those who have endeavored
timelessly over the years to “keep the promise.”
We want to acknowledge the generous support of Pierce County Human Services, Developmental Disabilities
Program, in providing the funds to update and print this important comprehensive guide to services and supports
for individuals who experience intellectual/ developmental disabilities. This important tool will assist you in
navigating the public and private programs and services available throughout Pierce County and beyond.
The Pierce County Coalition for Developmental Disabilities (PC2) welcomes the opportunity to assist individuals
and families in finding the services and programs that best meet your needs. We are here to answer your calls
if you need further assistance. Whether you are an individual who experiences an intellectual/developmental
disability, have a family member who experiences an intellectual/developmental disability, work within the disability
field, or are in the general community, we welcome your questions and concerns.
We acknowledge that, when compiling this complex list of resources, there are changes that can occur during the
production process. Please know that every effort was made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of agency
information.
ACHIEVE is a comprehensive post-secondary transition program that includes credit and non-credit classes, intensive advising, involvement in campus life, community-based internships, and assistance with job placement. All ACHIEVE students work with an intensive advisor and career specialist to draft and implement a comprehensive, individual plan for college and career. Specific courses, campus activities, and work-based learning experiences are determined based on skills and competencies needed for the student to achieve his or her identified goal(s). ACHIEVE is CARF-accredited for Employment Transition Services.
Pierce County Developmental Disabilities contracts & monitors delivery of employment and community inclusion services for adults (ages 21 & over) with developmental disabilities.
Cares of Washington’s mission is to provide tailored opportunities for people with disabilities and low incomes to become self-sufficient, creating individualized paths to economic self-sufficiency. Cares combines career coaching, financial skills education, vocational and educational training, support services, and job placement into a cohesive plan for each client, mitigating barriers to employment and maximizing each person’s potential for independence. Cares firmly believes that it is simply not enough to just help someone find a job, any job. We emphasize jobs with career pathways and the potential for advancement, benefits, and living wages for every client that walks through our doors. We recognize that solely getting someone a job also is not enough. Some individuals need additional coaching, others need help obtaining clothing suitable for work, some need help with transportation, and still, others need help making and living on a budget. To address these and other needs, we work closely with community partners to coordinate services and resources, building a network of support for each client.
CHDD is one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive interdisciplinary research and training centers focusing on a wide array of developmental disabilities. More than 600 University of Washington faculty and staff members, as well as numerous doctoral and post-doctoral students, provide clinical services, interdisciplinary clinical and research training, and technical assistance and outreach training to community practitioners and community agencies. CHDD is one of the few centers in the country that encompasses two major programs, one focusing on research and the other on clinical services, training, and community outreach. This structure encourages strong connections between researchers and clinicians, and creates an important bridge between basic research and state-of-the-art clinical programs. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, studies underlying causes of intellectual and other developmental disabilities, and develops behavioral and biomedical techniques to prevent disabilities or minimize their impact. The University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) is part of a national network supported by the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, established in every state to train professionals within an interdisciplinary framework to meet the needs of people with disabilities, provide clinical services and model projects, reach out to the community with technical assistance and training, conduct applied research, and disseminate information widely.
Our mission is to empower adults with disabilities to engage in their community through advocacy, employment, and education. Our purpose is to promote and advocate for the general welfare of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities; foster the development of programs on the individual’s behalf; aid the client, parents, and/or guardians in the solution of issues that arise; coordinate efforts and activities on their behalf; and cooperate with all public and private agencies and organizations in the furtherance of these ends.
The Community Protection Program offers an array of specialized supports within a supported living model which are designed to assist those individuals that have been identified as a potential risk to the safety of the community. Eligibility for the program is determined by: regional committees and is based on a client's history; a formal risk assessment which is completed by a qualified professional contracted with DDA; the client's voluntary agreement to participate.
The Developmental Disabilities Program contracts with various agencies in the community to provide services for residents of Pierce County and their families. The program is responsible for: county-wide information and education, early intervention services for children with developmental delays from birth to three years, and employment and community access programs for adults 21 and older. Primary funding for all services comes from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, the Department of Early Learning Supports for Infants and Toddlers Program, and School Districts.
DVR believes employment contributes to a person’s ability to live independently and everyone has a right to work. Our purpose is to empower people with disabilities to achieve a greater quality of life by obtaining and maintaining employment. As a division of the Department of Social and Health Services, with offices located throughout Washington, DVR has partnered with communities for over 70 years to help meet the employment needs of people with disabilities and employers.
DVR believes employment contributes to a person’s ability to live independently and everyone has a right to work. Our purpose is to empower people with disabilities to achieve a greater quality of life by obtaining and maintaining employment. As a division of the Department of Social and Health Services, with offices located throughout Washington, DVR has partnered with communities for over 70 years to help meet the employment needs of people with disabilities and employers.
We give support to people with disabilities, such as job coaching and transportation, so that their skills, not their disabilities, are the emphasis of their employability. We work with employers and employees to transcend workplace barriers and give people with disabilities the tools to maintain employment and advance their careers.
ENRICH Program (Encouraging Relationships in Community and Home)
We encourage and support individuals to develop their potential talents to the fullest and to find a job that utilizes all their unique abilities. Each person is an individual and their job search will be tailored just for them. We work with all disabilities but have staff that are specifically trained to work with developmental disabilities, mental health and substance abuse disorder. We have mental health professionals on staff as well as access to a benefits planner. We work closely with the following DVR offices: Tacoma, Puyallup, Kent, and SeaTac. Our goal is to help people reach their fullest potential and to help them find the best job for themselves. We will assist them in writing resumes, filling out applications, practicing for an interview and doing follow up to help them orient to their job.
ENSO is a non-profit agency providing person-centered, self-directed employment services to individuals with disabilities across Washington State. We value individual contribution, creative and customized employment supports, team and community involvement and equity. We work with individuals and their team to determine the best direction and services. We provide discovery, Person Centered Planning, benefit planning, job development and job coaching services throughout Pierce County, as well as in King, Snohomish and Spokane Counties. We work with the following funding sources: Developmental Disabilities Administration, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Department of Services for the Blind, and Aging and Long-Term Support Administration, to provide employment services.
Freedom Consulting builds hope and teaches the tool for empowering people to reach their fullest potential in life and employment. We are a Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRP) provider for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) of Washington State and Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (IDVR) and other state and local agencies. Contact us for vocational training, consulting, or employment placement services or assessments.
Global Connections to Employment (GCE) exists to help people throughout their life journeys. Our team embraces pillars of operational excellence to ensure that we consistently exceed customer expectations: best people, best service, best quality, financial performance and growth. Likewise, our management team is recognized for meeting the demands of complex operational systems. When a person with a disability transitions into a job, their chances of succeeding are much better with an organization that supports their growth and development. GCE is that organization.
Goodwill’s mission is to help every person reach their fullest potential through education, job placement, and career pathway services made possible by community donations, purchases, and partnerships. Since 1902, Goodwill’s concept of building job skills has provided people of all ages and backgrounds a chance to succeed. Our Goodwill began in 1920 as the 19th Goodwill in the United States, offering its own job training and placement services. Today, Goodwill operates work opportunity centers in Tacoma and Longview. Goodwill is a unique, self-supporting 501(c)3 non-profit that utilizes donations sold in its 37 stores across a 15-county service area and online sales to fund its programs. Additional funding comes from public grants and financial contributions from the community.
Provides professional services and technology to people of all ages who experience hearing loss, speech and language impairment, or who are deaf, to achieve personal, educational, and vocational goals. Also promotes community awareness and accessibility. The services include: early intervention and support for families with deaf and hard of hearing children; information and referral; information and training on technology such as assistive listening devices and accessible devices; assistive listening devices loan program; case management and advocacy services for deaf and hard of hearing and their family; consultations & assessment on making the workplace accessible; and community education on topics relating to diversity, hearing loss and technology.
Job Employment Services began as an inspiration to help individuals overcome many of the barriers one might face when seeking employment. Those barriers are different for everyone and range from a disability to someone who has been involved in the justice system. We are here to help you move past the barrier and help you along the path to becoming employed.
Job Employment Services began as an inspiration to help individuals overcome many of the barriers one might face when seeking employment. Those barriers are different for everyone and range from a disability to someone who has been involved in the justice system. We are here to help you move past the barrier and help you along the path to becoming employed.
Keystone Employment Services was developed as a separate program from CAPA to provide employment and Community Inclusion support to CAPA participants as well as other adults in the community. Keystone is currently providing employment/Community Inclusion services to several CAPA participants, and approximately 50 adults, with a variety of different disabilities and from a variety of different living situations. Our services include: Community Inclusion (CI) & PASRR (Preadmission Screening and Resident Review), Division of Vocation Rehabilitation (DVR), Individualized Employment (IE), Pathway to Employment, Transition Services, Job Search, Placement, and Retention.
We at L’Arche Tahoma Hope are people, with and without developmental disabilities, sharing life in communities belonging to an international federation. Mutual relationships and trust in God are at the heart of our journey together. We celebrate the unique value of every person and recognize our need for one another. The mission of L’Arche is: To make known the gifts of people with developmental disabilities, revealed through mutually transforming relationships; to foster an environment in community that responds to the changing needs of our members, while being faithful to the core values of our founding story; to engage in our diverse cultures, working together toward a more human society.
Program staff and certified volunteers work in nursing homes, adult family homes, and boarding homes. Certified ombudsmen are a listening ear and a voice for residents of long-term care settings. Ombudsmen educate residents, staff, families and the community about long-term care issues, resources, resident rights and quality of life in long-term care settings. A certified ombudsman is assigned to visit with residents in long term care facilities. Each volunteer receives extensive training before being assigned. Frequent in-service training is scheduled during regularly held monthly meetings. In addition, the ombudsman is informed as to other training available in the area and is encouraged to attend. Please visit our website for more information.
Since 1963 Morningside has been helping change the lives of individuals with disabilities by matching their skill and interest with jobs in the community. Morningside is one of the nation’s most successful programs for matching individuals with significant disabilities to jobs in the community. Our success lies in the extremely professional, qualified and motivated staff who are the solid linkage between employers and people with disabilities who want to work. We are committed to assisting businesses to recruit and retain employees with disabilities. We thrive on excellent customer service.
Orion Industries is a social enterprise with a mission of helping those with barriers to employment. Orion uses operations in its Aerospace manufacturing division and Contact Center Services division as platforms to teach people job skills through mentoring and internship programs. Orion's Training & Employment division supports individuals in achieving their goals through job placement and job retention services.
The Pierce County Skills Center opened in 2010, bringing along with it career options for students, leading to real jobs that mesh with workplace demands. The Pierce County Skills Center serves juniors and seniors from our 10 school districts: Bethel, Eatonville, Fife, Franklin Pierce, Orting, Steilacoom, Sumner, Tacoma, University Place and White River. Please visit our website for information on programs, resources, and more.
PROVAIL is one of Washington State’s largest, multi-service agencies dedicated to meeting the needs of children, youth, and adults with disabilities who need an integrated, complex set of services to live life according to their own choices. PROVAIL offers a comprehensive range of services to support people, with even the most severe disabilities, in all major areas of life so they can live, work, play, and fully participate in the community of their choice. Please visit our website for more information about our services.
Our vision is to create a safe and supportive space for young people ages 16-24 to come for individualized support in developing and achieving goals in school, work, and life. The REACH Center has served approximately 15,000 young people since its inception, and offers an impressively wide range of services in order to ensure optimal support for every young person who walks in the door. These services include career development, pathways to college, part-time and full-time work opportunities, support in finding transitional housing, individual counseling support, and life skills classes. The REACH Center’s Resource Room is available to anyone ages 16-24 who needs access to computers and peer mentors for job searches, college searches, or accomplishing other goals. Our other resources include a kitchen, a washer/dryer, and a rotating supply of food, hygiene products, and other donated goods.
Resource to Initiate Successful Employment (RISE) Program
The RISE program offers assistance to those on Basic Food (SNAP Food Benefits) in obtaining employment at a livable wage through services providing case management, job experience, and employment and training assistance.
Resource to Initiate Successful Employment (RISE) Program
The RISE program offers assistance to those on Basic Food (SNAP Food Benefits) in obtaining employment at a livable wage through services providing case management, job experience, and employment and training assistance.
Rios provides a thorough range of employment services to individuals throughout Pierce County and within Native American communities. Rios staff works closely with individuals, providing support services such as: resume preparation, customized job development, learning effective interview skills, one-on-one job training, as well as short and long term supports to assist each person in realizing and maintaining chosen vocational goals within a positive work environment.
Pierce County’s School to Work Program is designed to assist eligible transition students in obtaining paid employment prior to exiting school. Students enrolled in the program will work directly with a supported employment agency that will collaborate with the student, their parent(s)/guardian, school district staff, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) and the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA). The goal is to help the student find a good job before exiting the school district’s transition program, thus make a seamless transition into the adult services system. Please visit our website for more information on eligibility criteria and steps to enroll.
Our team has supported individuals and families of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to realize their full potential at school, home, work, and in the community. Our team has facilitated learning and growth of schools, hospitals, and a variety of public and private institutions. Specialized services include: adult supported living, children & family services, community & employment services and training & consultation services. Please visit our website for more information and to find the phone number and location nearest you.
SL Start provides support to children and adults experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout Oregon, Washington and Idaho. In Washington, SL Start specifically provides support to children. SL Start's mission is to "Provide personalized services that enrich people's lives" and our values are "Integrity, Safety and Health, Quality Services, Positive Working Environment, and Professional Business Practices." As a company we believe that our commitment to personalized services, combined with our dedication to our values, creates services and long-term relationships that benefit the people we support, their families, and the communities we live in. SL Start was founded in 1979 to find better ways to support individuals with disabilities to live in their community. SL Start maintains the vision of tailoring supports and services to the individual need. We believe in partnership and collaboration, honoring preferences and supporting dreams. We strive to empower and believe that every person has the right and the ability to live with success. Please visit our website for more information and services.
Our mission is to support local citizens challenged by intellectual and other devleopmental disabilities, to live, work and play in, and contribute to our community. Through individualized training and supports, Tahoma programs offer a whole-person approach to planning and services, assisting people to achieve their own level of success and happiness. Services are funded by Pierce County and DSHS/DDA. Fees are determined by DDA and DVR. Other funding is negotiated. The goal is to support the person to aspire to the highest level of independence and community participants in realizing a life their whole person, bridging the gaps in human services that may exist for them.
Trillium Employment Services is a non-profit organization committed to integrating people with intellectual disabilities into the workforce. Our staff of skilled professionals work closely with businesses and applicants to ensure a quality match and long term success.
Provides individualized vocational and life planning, career counseling, employment services, life skills training, and opportunities for participation in ones' community. The variety of services offered allows support to be tailored to meet the specific needs of each person receiving services. The Careers Program emphasizes personal choice and career building for adults with documented disabilities. We begin services with careful planning. Together we explore your interests, abilities, and needs. From this, we provide vocational counseling so that you can set your career goals. Our Individual Employment Program provides support to individuals from transition students to adults of all ages according to their vocational & life goals. The services are individualized & guided through a person-centered planning process. Vadis also works with employers both 1:1 and through workshops that teach positive supports, communication, learning styles, training techniques, and problems solving skills. Vadis’ Community Inclusion Program offers individualized support services for adults with developmental disabilities have opportunities and support to build relationships with people in the community and develop and apply skills that promote independence and inclusion. Vadis has successfully assisted individuals with disabilities in achieving their vocational goals for over 40 years.
Provides individualized vocational and life planning, career counseling, employment services, life skills training, and opportunities for participation in ones' community. The variety of services offered allows support to be tailored to meet the specific needs of each person receiving services. The Careers Program emphasizes personal choice and career building for adults with documented disabilities. We begin services with careful planning. Together we explore your interests, abilities, and needs. From this, we provide vocational counseling so that you can set your career goals. Our Individual Employment Program provides support to individuals from transition students to adults of all ages according to their vocational & life goals. The services are individualized & guided through a person-centered planning process. Vadis also works with employers both 1:1 and through workshops that teach positive supports, communication, learning styles, training techniques, and problems solving skills. Vadis’ Community Inclusion Program offers individualized support services for adults with developmental disabilities have opportunities and support to build relationships with people in the community and develop and apply skills that promote independence and inclusion. Vadis has successfully assisted individuals with disabilities in achieving their vocational goals for over 40 years.
Provides individualized vocational and life planning, career counseling, employment services, life skills training, and opportunities for participation in ones' community. The variety of services offered allows support to be tailored to meet the specific needs of each person receiving services. The Careers Program emphasizes personal choice and career building for adults with documented disabilities. We begin services with careful planning. Together we explore your interests, abilities, and needs. From this, we provide vocational counseling so that you can set your career goals. Our Individual Employment Program provides support to individuals from transition students to adults of all ages according to their vocational & life goals. The services are individualized & guided through a person-centered planning process. Vadis also works with employers both 1:1 and through workshops that teach positive supports, communication, learning styles, training techniques, and problems solving skills. Vadis’ Community Inclusion Program offers individualized support services for adults with developmental disabilities have opportunities and support to build relationships with people in the community and develop and apply skills that promote independence and inclusion. Vadis has successfully assisted individuals with disabilities in achieving their vocational goals for over 40 years.
Foundational Community Supports (FCS) is a program offering benefits for supportive housing and supported employment for Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries with complex needs. Amerigroup Washington Inc. will work with housing and employment providers to help clients find and maintain jobs; acquire stable, independent housing; and gain the necessary skills to be successful.
Washington Initiative for Supported Employment (W.I.S.E.)
Connecting people with disabilities with a workplace that offers supportive employment. WISE promotes and brings diversity to the workplace. What we do: school to work and transition, Washington state training and technical assistance, Oregon employment first initiative, partners for work, person-centered planning, family training series, Oregon transformation project, emplyment professional certificate program, North Dakota VR pilot project, work study, and Hire Ability Spokane.
