From training to a paycheck.
Real skills. Real workplaces. Real opportunities. Structured, individualized employment training for young adults with disabilities, inside real operating workplaces. Participants don't simply learn about work. They experience it.
Learn how the 480-hour program works →480 hours from training to employment.
Built on a simple principle: real work builds real employment skills. Training takes place within operating businesses, where participants learn alongside working professionals and experience the expectations of an actual workplace.
pathway
The goal is to determine what each participant can do, how independently they can work, and what support they may need to succeed in paid employment.
Training happens in real businesses.
RSA operates restaurants, cafés, catering operations and other businesses across New York. But the goal is not to make every participant a food-service employee — it is to identify demonstrated strengths that can transfer into employment.
- Food preparation
- Customer service
- Sanitation
- Catering
- Workplace safety
- Portioning
- Packaging
- Labeling
- Order preparation
- Quality control
- Stocking
- Inventory
- Organization
- Product rotation
- Delivery preparation
Training is individualized. As the program expands its employer network, additional career environments — administrative tasks, hospitality, facilities and other employer-based opportunities — can be incorporated.
We don't just track attendance. We measure employment readiness.
- Task completion
- Quality
- Accuracy
- Productivity
- Safety
- Reliability
- Punctuality
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Response to supervision
- Direct instruction
- Prompting
- Problem solving
- Increasing independence
At graduation, the goal is a documented employment profile based on real workplace performance.
One program. Different employment paths.
Completion of training does not guarantee employment. The objective is to provide meaningful workplace preparation and create measurable evidence that supports each participant's transition to competitive employment. Services and continuing supports depend on individual needs, eligibility, authorization, and available employment opportunities.
A clear path for everyone involved.
Looking for a clearer pathway beyond graduation? Learn how real workplace training can help identify strengths, employment interests, and support needs — using actual information rather than only classroom assessments.
Family informationLooking for individualized transition and workplace-training opportunities? Explore the proposed 12-hour/week, 40-week, 480-hour model for students in their final year of school.
School partnershipsLooking for real-world employment preparation and measurable outcomes? Learn how the program may complement vocational rehabilitation, supported employment, and other authorized services.
Refer or partnerLooking to create inclusive employment opportunities? Partner with us to provide real job opportunities for candidates whose skills have been demonstrated in actual workplaces.
Become an employer partnerThe proposed model, at a glance.
| Training | 12 hours / week |
| Duration | 40 weeks |
| Total | 480 hours |
| Support | Dedicated 1:1 |
Student participation, IEP services, contracting, funding, and provider arrangements are subject to individual determination and applicable school, agency, and program requirements.
Discuss a district partnershipReal work creates real information.
Classroom instruction can teach skills. A real workplace shows whether a participant can arrive on time, follow a schedule, complete tasks, maintain quality, communicate appropriately, respond to feedback, solve problems, and work with increasing independence. This information helps families, schools, agencies, and employers make better transition decisions.
Build the path before graduation.
School → real workplace training → measured skills → paid employment.
Whether you represent a family, school district, BOCES program, government agency, nonprofit, or employer, we want to talk with you.