The Choice Group

Manager: Dawn Scott The Choice Group is working together with DARS to identify high school seniors from Fauquier County and Culpeper County to begin two PATHWAYS classes. These virtual PRE-ETS classes are designed to assist students to identify career interests, develop job seeking skills, and complete applications. The students will graduate with an individualized portfolio highlighting their career interests and skills that can be used as roadmaps as they continue on their chosen career paths.   In collaboration with The Choice Group, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors in the Culpeper DARS office are providing an innovative method of supports for students in Fauquier County Schools. Working with transition staff at the schools, The Choice Group is preparing students with job readiness skills as they assist students with interest inventory assessments and virtual classroom discussions. The Choice Group will utilize the information learned from these virtual classrooms for furthe...

Vocational Counselor: Robby Bolyard In Virginia’s North Western Region, The Choice Group continues to support high school seniors through the COVID-19 Pandemic. One Vocational Counselor was able to develop employment leads for his client by calling existing business contacts and subsequently completing job applications with the client over the phone.  The Vocational Counselor then assisted the client during the in-person interview at a local grocer, where the client was hired as a Quality Assurance Associate. With a strong performance record, and support from the Vocational Counselor, this motivated student turned employee has been promoted to cashier and is making a difference in his community as an essential employee working nearly 25 hours per week.    

Vocational Counselor: Dana O’Connell After spending years working in a Northern Virginia grocery store, our client relocated to Richmond in search of her dream job of working with residents in a geriatric community. She was supported by DARS, who helped her with job development, to locate her dream job. As a graduate of George Mason’s “Mason Life Program,” she shared her dream with her Vocational Counselor, Dana O’Connell. O'Connell utilized her contacts to find her client a position at a local Assisted Living facility.  Originally hired and trained to work in the residents’ dining room, the client’s responsibilities abruptly changed as COVID-19 swept the nation and altered her work duties. The Choice Group’s Vocational Counselor immediately made adjustments to the client’s job site to help her reorient to new aspects of her position. Creating visual checklists, she developed compensatory strategies for the client to adapt to her new position of delivering meals to residents in the...