Workforce Transition & Employment Pathways
Building Pathways to Independence
For many youth with disabilities, support systems often end just as adulthood begins.
Across Oregon and throughout the country, young adults with disabilities face some of the highest unemployment rates of any population. Traditional workforce development programs are rarely designed to support individuals with significant physical, communication, sensory, or cognitive support needs. As students transition out of school, families frequently encounter a painful reality: opportunities rapidly disappear.
Circle of Friends is building something different.
Our Workforce Transition & Employment Pathways Program is an inclusive, real-world workforce development initiative designed specifically for youth and young adults with disabilities ages 16–24. Through hands-on training, individualized support, paid work experiences, and community-centered learning, participants build the confidence, skills, and experience needed to pursue long-term employment and greater independence.
More Than Job Training
This program is not built around busy work or simulated experiences.
Participants learn inside a real, community-facing social enterprise inspired by innovative disability employment models like Lucky Ones Coffee, where youth with disabilities are visible, valued, employed, and fully integrated into community life.
Our vision is to create a welcoming café and training environment where participants develop practical workforce skills while interacting with customers, building routines, strengthening communication, and gaining meaningful paid work experience.
This model transforms workforce development from something theoretical into something lived.
What Participants Will Learn
Participants receive individualized, supported workforce training in areas including:
- Customer service and hospitality
- Communication and teamwork
- Food and beverage preparation
- Cash handling and point-of-sale systems
- Time management and workplace routines
- Problem-solving and task completion
- Workplace safety and professional expectations
- Self-advocacy and confidence building
- Community engagement and social interaction
Training is adapted to support a wide range of abilities and communication styles, including AAC users, youth with mobility challenges, and individuals requiring higher levels of support.
Every participant is supported as an individual, not expected to fit into a one-size-fits-all workforce model.
A Real-World Training Environment
At the center of this initiative is a community-facing café and social enterprise designed to function as both a business and a training hub.
Participants will gain direct experience in:
- Beverage preparation
- Food service support
- Stocking and inventory
- Cleaning and organization
- Greeting and interacting with customers
- Team collaboration
- Adaptive workplace technology
- Supported employment routines
The environment itself is intentionally designed around accessibility, inclusion, dignity, and skill-building.
The goal is not simply to teach tasks. The goal is to create pathways toward long-term employment, confidence, and economic mobility.
Why This Work Matters
Youth with disabilities are too often excluded from the workforce before they are ever given an opportunity to participate.
Many young adults leave school without:
- Paid work experience
- Professional references
- Workforce readiness training
- Accessible employment opportunities
- Community-based skill development
- Confidence navigating workplace environments
For youth with higher support needs, barriers are even greater. Families consistently report that opportunities decline dramatically after graduation, especially in rural communities like Lane County. Circle of Friends is working to change that trajectory.
Program Impact
In its first year, the Workforce Transition & Employment Pathways Program will:
- Serve 25–30 youth with disabilities
- Provide paid work-based learning opportunities
- Support measurable growth in communication, teamwork, and workplace readiness
- Create pathways to internships, supported employment, and competitive employment
- Increase independence, confidence, and economic mobility for participants
The program is intentionally designed to be scalable and replicable, creating a model that can expand into other communities over time.
Individualized & Disability-Informed Support
What makes Circle of Friends unique is our deep expertise supporting youth with complex disabilities.
Participants receive individualized support that may include:
- AAC and communication accommodations
- Adaptive tools and workplace modifications
- Sensory supports and regulation strategies
- Mobility assistance
- Transportation support
- Job coaching
- Individualized pacing and task adaptation
- Social-emotional support
Our team understands that inclusion requires more than access. It requires intentional design.
A Continuum of Opportunity
Circle of Friends began as a school, but our long-term vision has always been broader: building lifelong pathways for youth with disabilities and their families.
This workforce initiative represents the next step in that vision.
Students who once had limited options beyond school will now have opportunities to:
- Build real job skills
- Earn wages
- Participate in community life
- Develop independence
- Explore future career pathways
- Strengthen social connection and confidence
Because disability should never determine whether someone is seen as employable, capable, or worthy of opportunity.
Looking Ahead
Circle of Friends is actively building partnerships with local employers, school districts, workforce agencies, and community organizations to expand inclusive employment opportunities across Lane County.
Long-term, we envision:
- Community employment partnerships
- Supported internships
- Transition-to-work pathways
- Expanded vocational training
- Replicable inclusive employment models
- Greater economic participation for youth with disabilities throughout Oregon
We are building a future where youth with disabilities are not excluded from the workforce, but expected, prepared, and empowered to participate in it.