Robert Stack to keynote at the University of Oxford’s 24th Annual International Conference
Princeton, NJ, June 29, 2015 – Community Options’ President and CEO Robert Stack will keynote at the University of Oxford Childhood Education and Issues Program on Inclusion for students with disabilities into the workplace on July 22, 2015. Mr. Stack will discuss the highly successful Princeton School to Employment Program based out of the local Witherspoon Street office, how the program has served as a template for replication in South Carolina and the ramifications of implementation in the United Kingdom.
The School to Employment Program (STEP) enables students with autism and intellectual disabilities to intern in jobs before their 21st birthday enabling them to matriculate into paid employment. Robert Stack said “so many students with disabilities have never been exposed to the world of work and soon find themselves with nothing to do except languish at home causing frustration for both them and their parents.” Stack said “we enjoy working in tandem with the schools as our staff scouts out potential job matches for students with disabilities looking to do something meaningful when they are done with school. Our dedicated and trained staff and job developers know what they are doing and work really hard to find the perfect match.” The Princeton STEP program staff work on Witherspoon Street out of the old Town Topics building.
Community Options is a national based nonprofit organization supporting thousands of people with disabilities throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.comop.org.
For over 25 years, Community Options has developed housing and employment programs for people with disabilities. Community Options operates with a budget over $107 million and serves thousands of people with disabilities through 38 offices across 9 states. Providing advocacy assistance to empower people with disabilities, Community Options believes that all people –regardless of disability level – should live and work in the community with dignity, choice, and self-determination. A registered PVO with USAID, Community Options is also the pioneer of innovative programs for people with disabilities in the Middle East, Russia, and South America. Please visit our website at www.comop.org.