Laura Smit Emerald
Chaz Nebergall (left), assistant director of Lane ShelterCare and supervisor of the education grant program, and Susan Ban, executive
director, talk about the education grant that will help people with mental disabilities find jobs.
‘Successful Transitions’
makes finding jobs easier
■The Successful Transitions
to Employment Program
helps people with mental
disabilities find work
By Brooke Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
Finding a job can be challenging
for most, and for those with mental
disabilities, it can be even more dif
ficult. But University education
professors Andrew Halpern and
Michael Bulbs are working with
several local groups to make enter
ing the work force easier.
The professors teamed up to cre
ate the Successful Transitions to
Employment Program three years
ago, and last fall they received the
money to launch the program,
which will work with community
organizations such as Lane Shelter
Care, Laurel Hill Center and the
Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation
Division. The groups identify
clients’ needs and then assist them
with services such as on-the-job
training, counseling and any med
ical services they may need. Group
members also inform employers
how to best meet the needs of peo
ple with mental disabilities in the
workplace.
Halpern and Bullis received the
money to start their program
through a five-year grant from the
U.S. Rehabilitation Services Ad
ministration, beating out more than
200 other applicants to win the
funding.
Bullis said the grant aids people
with illnesses such as brain injuries
and psychiatric problems. He said
he expects to help about 35 people
each year.
“It’s unfair if these people’s ill
nesses get in the way of working,
but the reality is they are in need of
some kind of support,” he said.
Halpern said the biggest problem
for people with mental disabilities
is trying to find work. He said em
ployers can be reluctant to hire
someone with a mental disability.
“Because of their mental illness,
they often don’t have a good history
or previous work experience,” he
said. “Finding work becomes a fair
ly serious problem for those with
mental disabilities, but it’s not a lost
cause.”
Halpern said he and Bullis work
closely with the community groups
to assess a client’s individual needs
and determine what kind of job he
or she wants. He said the program
is still in its early stages.
“We then work very individually
to help them find those goals,” he
said. “We start with what a person
really wants, and help that person
get there.”
He said one factor that made the
professors want to work with the
other community groups was that
they were already doing work to
help the mentally disabled, so it
seemed to be a good opportunity to
do even more.
“The collaborating agencies are
already doing work in this area, so
they provide a terrific foundation to
expand this work,” he said.
Chaz Nebergall, the assistant di
rector of Lane ShelterCare, said the
center was able to hire three new
staff members to work as vocational
specialists with the grant money.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s
giving us resources that we didn’t
have to help people achieve a high
er level of independence, and that’s
a great opportunity.”
Lane ShelterCare is a residential
treatment provider for people with
mental disabilities. The center
could not offer job training before
the grant.
Nebergall said Halpern and
Bullis visit regularly and they are
all willing to help the clients on an
individual basis, but the clients
have to want to be helped.
“They have to be motivated,” he
said. “They have to want to work.”
Nebergall said Lane ShelterCare
is currently working with 19
clients, but they are allowed to
work with a maximum of 20 at a
time.
“I’m confident by the end of the
month we’ll be working with 20,”
he said.
Four corrections officers fired
PORTLAND — Four Multnomah
County corrections officers were
fired Thursday as a result of the in
custodv beating of a man held on as
sault and domestic violence
charges, Undersheriff Mel Hedg
peth said.
“Four members of our agency se
riously violated your trust. We will
work hard to never repeat the mis
takes that were made,” Hedgpeth
said at a news conference.
Dennis L. Poe was arrested by
Portland police last July 11 and
booked into the Multnomah County
Detention Center.
Poe told a grand jury that in the
booking center he was slammed
against a wall, hand-cuffed and hob
bled, strapped to a restraining board
and struck by deputies.
Sgt. Jeffrey Ristvet, one of the four
dismissed* has been charged with
assault, harassment and official
misconduct after a criminal investi
gation by detectives. His trial is
pending.
Ristvet and the three others were
the targets of an internal investiga
tion that had nothing to do with the
criminal charges, Hedgpeth said.
The results said Ristvet used un
necessary force, did not report the
use of force and was untruthful
when questioned about it.
The probe concluded that Rodger
Cross used excessive force to take
Poe down to the ground to attach
plastic restraints and intentionally
struck him in the head with his el
bow, according to Hedgpeth. He
said Cross acted alone in taking
down Poe even though there were
deputies there who could have as
sisted, and that Cross was untruth
ful when questioned about the use
of force.
Hedgpeth said force used by
Deputy James Borja was determined
not to be excessive but that he failed
to report it and was untruthful
when asked about it.
Deputy Wallace Montoya was ac
cused of not reporting the force he
saw or heard about used by Cross
and Ristvet. The investigation said
Montoya was evasive and untruth
ful when questioned about use of
force against Poe.
Deputies Borja and Montoya re
cently had acquired tattoos depict
ing the “Brotherhood of the Strong.”
“We looked very carefully at this
time to determine if there was any
connection with the tattoos and the
jail incident. We could find no con
nection,” Hedgpeth said.
The Associated Press
- poppi*/—
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