Mission: CARES of Washington provide opportunities for people in the Puget Sound region to achieve their full employment potential. CARES specializes in providing individualized and long-term support for people with disabilities”

Description:
The main objective of Cares of Washington services are: Assisting adults with low incomes and/or disabilities in reaching their long-term economic self-sufficiency and employment goals.
Below are listed the types of programs and projects we operate in Snohomish, King, Pierce and Kitsap Counties, their general eligibility criteria and purpose.

Self-Sufficiency Projects; Eligibility criteria: Age 18 and over, legal to work in the USA, resident of King or Pierce County, income below 80 of local AMI or 200 % of fed poverty level.
These projects provide career advancement and asset development services to low income individuals and families in King and Pierce County.
Supported Employment Programs (SEP)
Independent Employment (IE)
Pathway to Employment (PtP)
Community Access(CA)
King County
Eligibility criteria: Between 18 and 62 years of age, have a medically diagnosed developmental disability before the age of 18, be legal to work in the USA, resident of the County where services are provided, expressed desire to work.
The IE and PtP programs assist adults with developmental disabilities to achieve their employment goals through pathway planning, job readiness skills training, job development and long-term job retention services. The CA program assists people with developmental disabilities over age 62 participate in community activities and stay integrated in their local community.

SEP Pierce County; See above SEP description
SEP Kitsap County
SEP Snohomish County
Fee for Service vendor Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR)and Department of services for the blind; Eligibility Criteria:
Over age 18, have a medically diagnosed disability, be legal to work in the USA, be a resident of WA, willing to sign employment plan.
This project provides assessment, job readiness skills training, job development, job placement and retention services for adults and youth with disabilities.
Consulting services:
All organizations and companies needing assistance with employee retention and career advancement.
CARES provides services to employers including marketing job openings and screening applicants,
providing consultation to employers and other employment providers regarding ADA requirements, and accommodations to increase accessibility to services and ability to perform work.

History:
The history of CARES of Washington is rather unique. CARES began in Seattle in 1980 as the International Association of Machinists Center for Administering Rehabilitation and Employment Services (IAM CARES) providing re-employment services to injured Boeing workers so they could go back to work at Boeing. During the ensuing years, as IAM CARES grew to a multi-state agency with offices in 15 States and two Canadian provinces the focus became serving people with disabilities. The organization was a department of the IAMAW union until 1996 when it became a separate 501c3 non-profit organization. All of IAM CARES funding came from federal, State and local government funding with an emphasis on larger national grants. The WA State area grew to be the largest regional office. In October 2002 IAM CARES merged with IES, another disability employment provider and expanded services to Kitsap County.
In March of 2003 IAM CARES national management notified state directors that they would be closing the national headquarters and ceasing operation as of April 2003. CARES of Washington incorporated as a WA State 501C3 non-profit on May 2003 and has continued to provide employment and asset development services since then
CARES of Washington has 7 service contracts. The projected number of adults to receive services in CARES’ 2008 program year is 400+. The majority of people served, are individuals with disabilities. They range in age from 18 to 55+.
CARES helps people with barriers to employment who are looking for employment to improve their job search skills, then find and keep good jobs. Additionally, some program participants are assisted to increase their community access while developing pre-employment skills through participation in volunteer positions. CARES also provides asset development and career advancement services to assist clients achieve economic self-sufficiency. We help employers by providing free recruiting of people with the skills they need, disability related information and follow-up support for them and the employee.
Our services are provided in Snohomish, King, Pierce and Kitsap counties. You will find our main office in Seattle. CARES of Washington staff are located at WorkSource Centers in King County, downtown Tacoma, Monroe and Bremerton.

Contact people:

Lars Nowack, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Elaine Romanick, Office Manager, (phone), (email) Mary Shaffstall, Grant Writer, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (206) 935-0949

Address:

1833 N 105th, Suite 201 Seattle, WA 98133 This location is handicap accessible (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.caresofwa.org

Miscellaneous Information

Liability
	Yes
Does your organization welcome court-ordered community service volunteers?
	No
Does your organization have volunteer positions for youth 12-18?
	No