Community Options’ President and CEO Robert Stack will be the keynote speaker at the University of Oxford Childhood Education and Issues Program on July 22. Mr. Stack will speak on the subject of “Inclusion for students with disabilities into the workplace.”

He will discuss the successful Princeton School to Employment Program based out of the non-profit organization’s office at 305 Witherspoon Street and the ramifications of implementing a similar program in the United Kingdom. The Princeton program has served as a template for replication in South Carolina.

The School to Employment Program (STEP) enables students with autism and intellectual disabilities to intern in jobs before their 21st birthday enabling them to matriculate into paid employment. “So many students with disabilities have never been exposed to the world of work and soon find themselves with nothing to do except languish at home causing frustration for both them and their parents,” said Mr. Stack. “We enjoy working in tandem with the schools as our staff scouts out potential job matches for students with disabilities looking to do something meaningful when they are done with school. Our dedicated and trained staff and job developers know what they are doing and work really hard to find the perfect match.”

Community Options is a national based nonprofit organization supporting thousands of people with disabilities throughout the United States.

For over 25 years, Community Options has developed housing and employment programs for people with disabilities. Community Options operates with a budget over $107 million and serves thousands of people with disabilities through 38 offices across 9 states. Providing advocacy assistance to empower people with disabilities, Community Options believes that all people — regardless of disability level — should live and work in the community with dignity, choice, and self-determination. A registered Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Community Options is also the pioneer of innovative programs for people with disabilities in the Middle East, Russia, and South America.

For more information, visit www.comop.org.