Project Search

The Program of Practice

Young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities often face significant barriers to obtaining competitive integrated employment despite having the desire and ability to participate meaningfully in the workforce. Many transition-age students lack access to structured programs that combine real-world work experience, employability instruction, and coordinated support services necessary to successfully transition from school to employment.
Traditional educational and workforce systems frequently operate in silos, limiting opportunities for students to gain hands-on workplace experience, build professional confidence, and develop transferable job skills in authentic employment settings. Regional stakeholders, including educational institutions, workforce agencies, disability service organizations, and employers, identified a critical need for an inclusive workforce development model that would bridge the gap between education and employment for adults with disabilities.
Project SEARCH Orange County was developed to address these gaps by creating an immersive, community-based workforce preparation program that integrates adult education instruction, workplace internships, and collaborative interagency support services leading directly to competitive integrated employment opportunities.

The Response

Project SEARCH Orange County at Kaiser Permanente–Irvine is a collaborative workforce preparation and transition-to-employment program designed to support young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in achieving competitive integrated employment.
Saddleback College’s OASIS Program serves as the adult education and community college partner, providing daily employability instruction and workforce preparation courses that complement immersive internship experiences within Kaiser Permanente–Irvine.
The partnership includes Saddleback College, Kaiser Permanente–Irvine, Regional Center of Orange County, California Department of Rehabilitation, and Goodwill of Orange County. Together, these partners provide a coordinated support system that combines classroom instruction, workplace training, career exploration, and individualized coaching.
Interns participate in a year-long program where they spend approximately six hours daily engaged in workplace rotations across healthcare and industry settings while also receiving instruction in workplace communication, professionalism, resume development, interview preparation, self-advocacy, and independent employment skills.
By integrating adult education curriculum with authentic workplace experiences and individualized support services, Project SEARCH creates a highly effective pathway that increases student confidence, independence, job readiness, and successful transition into competitive integrated employment.

The Unique Features of the Program

Project SEARCH Orange County at Kaiser Permanente–Irvine represents an innovative and highly collaborative model that integrates adult education, workforce preparation, healthcare industry training, and disability support services into one coordinated employment pathway for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A distinguishing feature of the program is its immersive workplace model. Unlike traditional classroom-based transition programs, interns are fully embedded within professional healthcare and industry environments where they participate in real-world workplace rotations, develop transferable job skills, and gain hands-on experience alongside professionals in the field.

The program’s success is rooted in its strong cross-agency collaboration among Saddleback College’s OASIS Program, Kaiser Permanente–Irvine, Regional Center of Orange County, California Department of Rehabilitation, and Goodwill of Orange County. This integrated partnership structure allows students to receive coordinated academic instruction, job coaching, career development, and individualized support services throughout the program year.

Another unique feature is the integration of Saddleback College’s Adult Education Workforce Preparation curriculum directly into the internship experience. Students receive daily instruction focused on employability skills, workplace communication, professionalism, self-advocacy, and career readiness while simultaneously applying those skills in authentic workplace settings.

The program also emphasizes competitive integrated employment as the primary outcome, ensuring that students are not only gaining experience, but are actively transitioning into meaningful paid employment opportunities. The strong employment outcomes achieved by the inaugural cohort demonstrate the effectiveness of this inclusive, community-based workforce development model.

Project SEARCH Orange County serves as a replicable model for how adult education programs, employers, workforce agencies, and community partners can work together to create equitable career pathways and expand employment opportunities for adults with disabilities.

The Outcome

The inaugural Project SEARCH Orange County cohort demonstrated strong student success and employment outcomes, highlighting the effectiveness of immersive workforce preparation combined with coordinated interagency support services.

During the 2025–2026 program year:
• 6 interns successfully completed the first Project SEARCH cohort at Kaiser Permanente–Irvine.
• 5 of the 6 interns secured paid internship or employment placements immediately following program participation.
• Students obtained placements with respected healthcare and industry employers throughout Orange County.
Student employment placements include:
• Kaiser Permanente Anaheim – Food and Nutrition
• St. Joseph Hospital Orange – Environmental Services
• Edwards Lifesciences – THV Surgical Mailing Department
• Rady CHOC Mission
• Thompson Autism and Neurodevelopmental Center (Rady CHOC Orange)
In addition to employment outcomes, interns demonstrated measurable growth in:
• Workplace communication and professionalism
• Job readiness and employability skills
• Self-confidence and independence
• Teamwork and problem-solving skills
• Career exploration and workplace adaptability
Program staff, employer partners, and families reported significant increases in students’ confidence, independence, and ability to navigate professional workplace environments successfully.

Reflecting on the program’s impact, Stacy Eldred, Ph.D., OASIS Program Department Chair, shared:
“Seeing our interns grow in confidence, independence, and professional skill has been the greatest privilege. This program reflects what inclusive education and community partnership can make possible, and we are honored to support their journey into competitive integrated employment.”

The success of the first cohort demonstrates the value of integrating adult education instruction, workplace immersion, and collaborative support services to create equitable employment pathways for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Project SEARCH Orange County serves as a promising and replicable model for inclusive workforce development across California adult education programs.