From secondary meal prep, to employee of the month! Casey found success with supported employment

Katie, a vocational counselor for The Choice Group in the Richmond area, has been working with her client, Casey, since June of last year. Relatively new to the workforce, Casey’s main obstacle was finding a position having limited work experience. Along with his mom and his DARS counselor, Katie and Casey sat down to discuss his previous jobs, training experiences, transportation options, hours of availability, and areas of interest. Where would he even want to work?

With an easy going, positive and flexible attitude, it wasn’t hard to find Casey an employer willing to hire him on! He soon found a position at the Chick-fil-A in Mechanicsville that met with of his availability and transportation options. When he began training, Katie worked with him on his basic food preparation tasks for the restaurant as well as customer service skills such as eye contact, multi-tasking and prioritizing in a fast-paced restaurant environment. Katie also worked with the employer, educating them on the importance of natural supports and incentives. 

On the job, he learned to prepare salads, fruit cups, yogurt parfaits, and wraps to Chick-fil-A standards and making custom orders as needed. Initially a secondary preparation person, his skills grew and is now independent in both opening and closing the food preparation area of the restaurant. Earning the recognition of Employee of the Month/Shining Star, his managers have asked him to help train other employees and has cross-trained on hot food prep and various cleaning and maintenance tasks. 

In the year he has been employed with Chick-fil-A, Casey has grown independent on and off the job site. He is very comfortable in his environment and built great natural support relationships and friends among management and co-workers. He is currently working towards obtaining his driver’s license to get back and forth independently. Katie checks in monthly with Casey and his managers with phone calls and on-site visits.

When he’s not at work, you can find him video gaming and joking around with his friends online. Casey enjoys spending time with his dogs and taking vacations with his family.