The Pachysandra Project: A public — private initiative in supported employment at the Prudential Insurance Company of America

Abstract

The ‘Pachysandra Project’, sponsored jointly by Our House, Inc. and The Prudential Insurance Company of America, is a supported employment program which employs internal supports almost exclusively. Since its inception in 1992, eleven individuals, most with mental retardation, have been employed at The Prudential at three different locations. A project manager, who is a member of the staff of the Our House Employment Services, works on-site at the Newark, New Jersey headquarters of The Prudential. Co-workers of the supported employees are trained as mentors, and they, along with other departmental staff, provide the supports. The Pachysandra Project has demonstrated that supported employees with developmental disabilities can perform well in a large corporate environment, providing valuable services to the company. Furthermore, it provides a model for replication in developing an internal support system in other corporations.