BAYADA Habilitation, a BAYADA Home Health Care specialty practice, has developed an innovative, career development program for ambitious, caring individuals interested in working with the intellectual and developmentally disabled population.
This program, called REACH (Reaching, Excelling, Achieving, and Committing to Habilitation) provides a fast-track path for those with one year of experience to join BAYADA as a habilitation technician and grow into a leadership or management role.
Habilitation technicians help children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities acquire, improve, and maintain the skills they need to live safely at home and participate in their communities,” explained BAYADA Habilitation Practice Leader Donna Heatherly. “Specific responsibilities involve helping clients with activities of daily living, such as grocery shopping, taking the bus to an appointment, or grooming and personal care. The habilitation technician also gives them the tools they need so that one day that can become more independent and do these tasks on their own.”
According to Heatherly, the REACH Program offers two career tracks for habilitation technicians to expand their responsibilities and growth their skills.
“The office development track is ideal for those who want to develop their business skills. It gives employees the mentoring and training they need to take on an office-based management role supervising staff and overseeing client cases,” said Heatherly. “The field leadership track allows habilitation technicians with a college degree to continue to work one-on-one with clients while developing specialized skills that will allow them to advance into an office-based position.”
Victoria Ijames, who joined BAYADA as a habilitation technician, is now a client services manager, thanks to the REACH Program. “When I applied to BAYADA as a habilitation technician, I had no idea of the possibilities that were ahead,” said Ijames. “I love that I can feel confident when I share with people that I work for BAYADA, as the culture promotes love, growth and excellence.”
BAYADA Habilitation is accredited by CARF, an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the people served.
Learn more about career opportunities with BAYADA Habilitation.
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