Michael Cross goes about his daily routine at Silvercrest Retirement Residence. Cross was in an automobile accident in his teens, leaving him with mental disabilities. Nonetheless, he has been a janitor at Silvercrest for more than 30 years. Photo by Donald A. Promnitz

Josephina Nunez has become an asset to The Arc of Fresno/Madera Counties, an organization dedicated to helping people with developmental disabilities find work. She works there as a life coach to people with special needs.

“I got the training to get this job,” Nunez said. “And I put all of me into this job.”

But Nunez has special needs herself — she has cerebral palsy, which can effect movement and muscle tone in people with this condition . This, however, has not hindered her ability to teach, train and encourage others to live fully independent lives, just as she has. In fact, she has gone from living with friends to having a job, a car and an apartment. Now, at 29, she’s also engaged to be married.

“I’ve become who I wanted to be a long time ago,” Nunez said. “And thanks to the Arc, that who I am now.”

Nunez is not alone in finding work in the special needs community. Cameron Taylor, director of vocational services for the Arc, said in recent years, those with developmental disabilities have been proving themselves to be capable and loyal employees in a competitive job market, working in a diverse range of occupations.

“What we say is our individuals are competent, and they can be just as competitive as an employee without disabilities,” Taylor said. “They don’t turn over a whole lot, they’re loyal and they have some of the best attendance of any employees they serve.”

More complicated jobs.

Previously relegated to a narrow field of jobs, Taylor has said since she started with the Arc 21 years ago, people with special needs have been employed competitively in wider industries.

“We have individuals…that don’t just do janitorial landscape work,” Taylor said. “They work for Sanger Unified, they work for Burger King, they work for McDonald’s, they work for the Salvation Army.”

Taylor added that there are also people with developmental disabilities working in a law office, the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, Fresno-Yosemite International Airport and the California Air National Guard. Their work includes cleaning, food preparation, agriculture, and (like Nunez) coaching others.

Taylor attributes this educational work to creating competitively employed persons with a greater sense of versatility.

“I think No. 1 is the social integration. We have individuals who work at Burger King and McDonald’s and various fast food restaurants that are similar to Kids’ Café,” Taylor said. “And they are integrated in such a way these days that they have the opportunity to experience other diversity and cultures themselves and work on patience, kindness and time management.”

Kids’ Café opportunity

Kids’ Café is a restaurant in the Fulton District of downtown where special education students of Fresno County are able to not only to work as a part of their class time, but are also getting important experience that will help them in their jobs after graduation.

Run completely by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools’ office, the students who work at the café are a part of the Adult Transitional Program. These skills will help them not only to work at a variety of restaurant jobs, but also teach them valuable life skills. Paul Romero, the manager of the café, said that the students are not only cooking and serving the food, but also making deliveries and operating the cash register.

This process has led to not only the acquisition of skills, but of being able to interact. This included students who were so shy, that Romero stated they would cover their faces around other people. One of these students recently did a speech in front of 2,000 people.

“The same student has done speeches for last year’s graduation, they did speaking engagements for us at the café, we’ve delivered food and they ask our students to speak in front of certain panels,” Romero said. “And then the same student is also running the cash register, so meeting a new face every 30 seconds and really enjoying it.”

Education has also helped them to enter a competitive market by educating them on how to access public and private transportation, and acquiring the necessary identification.

Tax credits available

Companies with special needs employees on their payroll can expect to bring in sizable deductions from the IRS on their taxes.

These include the non-refundable Disabled Access Credit and Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction for company expenses aimed at creating accommodations and providing access. In the case of the Disabled Access credit, it is specifically aimed at small businesses that earned $1 million or less, with no more than 30 full time employees in the previous year.

The IRS also offers the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which can be worth up to $9,600. The amount paid in this credit is dependent on the employee hired and on the amount time that they have been with the company.

Patience and loyalty

Hiring someone with developmental disabilities does not come without its potential challenges to an employer.

“If the individual comes to the place of employment and does need reasonable accommodation, does need some job carving, the employer can’t always be expected to provide that,” Taylor said. “And they would have to rely on an agency like the Arc to make those accommodations, and possibly that could be negatively impacting to them.”

Another issue, Taylor said, is that with the ever-increasing minimum wage, employees might be expected to be more multifaceted, which may present a challenge for the special needs worker, depending on the level of severity.

Some employees may also set to certain patterns and upsetting that routine can throw them off. This is the case with Michael Cross, a janitor for the Silvercrest Retirement Residence, run by the Salvation Army and subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Kleinhammer said Cross was involved in a car accident in his youth that left him with mental disabilities.

In one on-the-job incident, Cross had to help mop up after a fire alarm, which threw off his pattern. After the job was done, however, he missed his bus.

“So I offered him a ride home,” said Gary Kleinhammer, the manager at Silvercrest. “And he lived by the IRS center and we took the bus path because that’s how he knew how to get home instead of just jumping on the freeway.”

But Kleinhammer said that Cross is also a loyal employee of more than 30 years, with the best attendance of anyone on staff.

“He’s dedicated,” Kleinhammer said. “He’s kind, he’s caring, he shows up on time and works his hours. “

This sentiment was echoed by Taylor.

“They want to be a team player and they want to be integrated,” she said. “So I would say they contribute to increasing the morale a bit, and if anything — for the employed not living with disabilities, maybe raise the expectation for them.”