Compensated
Work Therapy(CWT) is a Veterans Health Administration clinical
vocational rehabilitation program offered at every VA medical center. The
mission of CWT services is to provide support to Veterans living with mental
illness or physical impairment with barriers to employment to secure and
maintain community-based competitive employment.
CWT
programs strive to maintain highly responsive long-term quality relationships
with business, government agencies, and industry promoting employment
opportunities for Veterans with physical and mental health challenges.
Hundreds
of VA employees work hard every day to make these opportunities happen for
Veterans. We recognize these employees during CWT Vocational
Rehabilitation Recognition Week, which occurs annually during October, National
Disability Employment Awareness Month. Every year, the exceptional CWT
staff members are honored. As we observe this year’s Recognition
Week (October 21-27), let’s take a look back at the Excellence in CWT Award
winners from 2017.
Excellence in CWT Service Delivery
Congratulations
to Beverly Maier from the North Chicago Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) program
was selected as the 2017 Excellence in CWT Service Delivery award winner.
Maier
would take a fifteen-mile ride to spend an entire day, in below freezing
temperatures, to travel about the local community seeking vocational options
for a Veteran who had no other means of transportation to support his
employment goal.
She
secured employment for 32 Veterans, many of whom have required multiple jobs.
Her entire caseload was comprised of those Veterans coping with persistent and
serious mental illness.
In 2015
she was nominated for the Rehabilitation Counselor of the Year Award and was
promoted to the position of CWT Coordinator. She immediately revised the CWT
discharge follow up survey utilizing statistical software. The goal is to
expand this survey into a formal VHA research project to determine which
vocational interventions best support sustained employment outcomes.
Maier
is a tireless advocate for mental health recovery and vocational
rehabilitation.
Excellence in CWT Leadership Co-Recipients
Congratulations
to Kenneth Weber, CWT Manager at the Edward
Hines, Jr. VA Hospital and Mr. Rodger Woeppel, at
the Black Hills Health Care System who were both selected as 2017 Excellence in
CWT Leadership award winners.
Weber
is an inspiring leader whose achievements over the last nine years as Hines’
CWT Program Manager have been monumental and include transforming a struggling
CWT program into a world-class vocational Rehabilitation system of care,
expanding the CWT program from serving only 48 Veterans in 2008 to 1,467 in
2016.
His CWT
office has continued to expand services and access for Veterans to the Veterans
Career Center which includes instructions in online job application processes,
USA Jobs Account Setup and development of an Internet Cafe concept to allow
Veterans to utilize the free patient access Wi-Fi to log in with their own
personal devices.
Weber
organized job fairs at Hines attended by as many as 600 Veterans and 27
employers (including FBI, DEA, Comcast, Marriott, and UPS).
As the
Assistant Chief of the Mental Health office noted, “Ken has an
impressive list of achievements, but perhaps more remarkable are the ‘little
things’ he quietly does every day to encourage staff and Veterans, to handle
difficult conversations, and to gently but persistently guide CWT forward.”
Army Veteran a Licensed Professional Counselor
and charismatic presenter
The Black Hills
Health Care System (BHHCS) covers a vast rural area with
four reservations, nine Community Based Outpatient Clinics and two hospital
facilities at Fort Meade and Hot Springs, S.D.
As
program leader, Rodger Woeppel has made a name for himself in
the communities served. An Army Veteran committed to serving Veterans, he is a
Licensed Professional Counselor able to provide an array of services.
He is a
charismatic presenter who provides excellent information, integrating
recovery-oriented programming in a way that encourages others to do the same.
In one presentation he introduced The Seven Bands of the Lakota using Lakota
phrases and American translations.
In
addition to his many duties, he manages transitional residence programs located
in Sturgis, Rapid City, Hot Springs and Pine Ridge, S.D. He also manages the
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veteran program in Hot Springs and the operation
of the Therapeutic and Supported Employment Services programs in McLaughlin,
Eagle Butte, Ft. Meade, Rapid City, Hot Springs and Pine Ridge, S.D.
His
presentations include the importance of community involvement and how he
successfully created, developed, and manages a Mental Health Advisory Group
made up of Veterans in a variety of professional fields and expertise.
Woeppel
has integrated suicide prevention into Therapeutic and Supported Employment
Services training and has excellent relations with the Suicide Prevention Team.
Rodger recognizes his staff and Veterans for a successful transition to
permanent employment and knows this saves lives. His commitment inspires his
staff to provide excellent services each day.
CWT
programs are located within all VA medical centers. Review the CWT Locations page
to find site specifics.
About
the author: Donna Tasker is the National Marketing Director for Therapeutic and
Supported Employment Services in VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide
Prevention.
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