Member Spotlight: Cody Cumpton

Date: 06/10/15

(Perry, KS) ─ Cody is 20 years old and lives with his dad and step-mom in the small town of Perry, KS. He enjoys fishing, taking walks, hanging out with friends and music. Cody’s dream job was to work at the University of Kansas but his school IEP team placed him at a sheltered workshop in the nearby city of Lawrence. The school district was also providing and paying for Cody’s daily transportation to the sheltered workshop. Cody had one more year of school, and the plan was to continue at the sheltered workshop until he exited school services to the waiting list for adult IDD funding/services.

Cody met Shelly May, Employment Pathways Facilitator, at his person centered support plan meeting and expressed his boredom at the sheltered workshop and shared his dream of working at KU. As the subject matter expert on employment, Shelly was aware of an internship program at KU called Project SEARCH. She discussed the opportunity with Cody and his parents, and they were excited and supportive of competitive employment.

Cody’s school district had never been involved with Project SEARCH, so Shelly contacted the Lawrence school district to discuss a potential partnership between school districts for Cody to participate next fall. The Lawrence school district was open to idea but said Cody’s IEP team needed to start the process.

Cody’s father contacted Cody’s teacher the very next day and requested an IEP meeting to discuss Project SEARCH. Shelly cautioned the family that there was still an application, interview and selection process for entry to Project SEARCH and much work to be done between the two school districts for funding, transportation, and accountability. Additionally, there were two Project SEARCH locations in Lawrence – University of Kansas and Lawrence Memorial Hospital – and no guarantee that Cody would be selected for the KU site. The parents understood, and Cody’s father recognized that “if it didn’t happen for Cody next fall, it was opening doors for future students in the school district.”

And then the ball started rolling. Over the summer teams met, and a memorandum of understanding was established between the two school districts. Not only was Cody selected for Project SEARCH, but three students from his school district were chosen to be interns their final year of high school. As interns, the students will look like, act like, and be treated like “real” employees and work towards the outcome of competitive employment by or within three months of graduation.

A full year later, Shelly May attended Cody’s graduation ceremonies for Project SEARCH. Not only was Cody celebrating a successful internship experience, he was starting a full time job the following Monday at the University of Kansas as part of their environmental services team.

At his graduation, Cody’s father said that being part of Project SEARCH has really broadened Cody’s horizons and that he had really grown over the past year. Cody learned valuable work skills, established new friendships and gained confidence through Project SEARCH. Being an intern at KU, also gave him the competitive edge needed to secure competitive employment on campus and that dream job.

Project SEARCH nationally has a 68% success rate of obtaining competitive employment within three months of graduation. The Lawrence programs have celebrated 100% employment success with their student interns for the last four years and have been recognized nationally. Through opportunities like Project SEARCH, Sunflower members are realizing the promise of Employment First and achieving their dreams.