BOSTON UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY WORK SERVICES TO EXAMINE HOMELESSNESS UNDER JOINT GRANT FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Wednesday, November 20, 2002

Boston --- A team of researchers from Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and Community Work Services (CWS), a leading Boston-based vocational rehabilitation agency, will identify which employment services are in need government funding in order to make an impact on homeless people with significant disabilities. The project is funded by a $500,000 grant by the U. S. Department of Education.

“With the recent surge in homelessness in Massachusetts and cuts to state funded homeless services, it is more important than ever to clarify whether we should spend more on employment programs and services for homeless people with disabilities or whether personal characteristics more accurately determine their success in retaining employment,” said Norman C. Hursh, associate professor of rehabilitation counseling at Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and principal investigator for the study. “This project will help us determine the combined effectiveness of employment services for homeless people with disabilities and their coping skills and define the financial responsibility of the government.”

“We need to identify the relationship between successful job retention and career advancement for homeless individuals with significant disabilities and develop effective workplace supports, program services and homeless resources,” said Dr. William T. McCarriston, Jr., executive director of Community Work Services, and co-principal investigator. “The homeless population is growing and remedial efforts are badly needed. Too often the homeless individual is trapped by his or her past. We need to be able to look at what the individual has done to rehabilitate him or herself and to recognize and work with their potential for further remediation and growth.”

Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences is an institution of higher education and research whose premier academic programs prepare dynamic health professionals and whose research and leadership in the health and rehabilitation sciences is actively shaping health care. For more information about Sargent College and to learn about their degree programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, communication disorders, health sciences, athletic training, nutrition, and rehabilitation counseling, visit http://www.bu.edu/sargent.

CWS, founded in 1877, is a non-profit rehabilitation organization that provides vocational rehabilitation services to persons with severe and multiple disabilities in the Boston, Massachusetts area. CWS is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and certified by the Department of Mental Retardation in Massachusetts. CWS is located in downtown Boston and has a full vocational evaluation unit, on-site and community based vocational training sites, career information centers, and computers with Internet access for consumer use. All evaluation, training, and meeting facilities are fully accessible. Professional staff includes employment training specialists, job placement professionals, rehabilitation counselors, job training and job support staff, and case management professionals. For more information about CWS, visit http://www.cwsbos.com.