Two of the “most joyous” employees at Found Rental Co., a furniture and prop rental company in Fullerton, are Helenia Reynaud and David Campos. Among the pair’s job responsibilities are wrapping, cleaning and vacuuming furniture.
“They’re just so fantastic that we feel like we’re definitely getting the better end of the stick,” said Found Rental CEO Jeni Maus. “It brings me immeasurable joy to know that they’re happy here.”
Reynaud and Campos are a part of a pilot program that connects young people with developmental disabilities to local job opportunities, run by Goodwill of Orange County in partnership with the Regional Center of Orange County.
But organizers said the groundbreaking program, called the “ISE,” or Intensive Supported Employment, could run out of funding by early next year.
Under Goodwill OC’s Community-Based program, ISE has operated on a roughly $500,000 state grant for 1.5 years, officials said. Its first participant was placed in a job setting in January 2024.
The ISE’s current funding — set to end by February 2026 — is just enough to employ its six current participants, who are paid at or above minimum wage.
The program offers personalized occupation assessments, transportation support, competitive pay and community job placements for people with developmental disabilities, who are leaving high school and seeking first-time work, officials said. It also pairs young employees — like Reynaud and Campos — with assigned “job coaches,” who assist them throughout their shifts.
Through the ISE, six workers — and their coaches — are currently employed at several locations across Orange County, including Café Zocalo in Orange, the Cookie Element in Yorba Linda and Dave and Buster’s in Orange and Irvine.
Despite only being in the program for a few months so far, workers Reynaud and Campos have made a lasting impact at Found Rental Co., while also becoming more comfortable with staff and confident in their abilities, their boss said.
Maus said that Reynaud and Campos’ assigned job coaches are “fully invested” in teaching and supporting the workers throughout their shifts, and “really want to go above and beyond.” She added that the inclusive program benefits Found Rental Co. “even more” than the workers themselves.
“I feel like they realize they’re a part of the team, and they’re one of us,” said Maus. “I don’t feel that there’s any separation.”
Cazares, with the Regional Center, said the majority of similar “supported employment” programs require participants to be able to work alone 80% of the time. But ISE pairs participants with one-on-one job coaches, working alongside them throughout their shifts.
“I call this Intensive Supported Employment to differentiate from individual supported employment,” said Rick Adams, the Vice President of Mission Services at Goodwill OC. “In this program, we understand that because of the population we’re working with, they need to have someone with them the whole time — they need that intensive support on a daily basis.”
The program seeks to serve as an alternative for federal 14(c) certificates, which under the Fair Labor Standards Act allow employers to pay people with disabilities below minimum wage. California banned the certificates starting January 1 of this year, and the ISE program hopes to ensure that people with disabilities are “not left behind,” organizers said.
“When those certificates were removed, that took away a lot of employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities, leaving them now unemployed,” Cazares said. “It was very much needed for us to develop a new model.”
However, Adams said he has struggled to connect with businesses willing to take on employees with disabilities, and who need job coaches to work alongside them. He said he is appreciative of those businesses “willing to listen.”
“The truth is, a lot of people are going to look at someone with a disability, and having a job coach there and say, ‘Oh, I’m not willing to work with that,” Adams said. “That has unfortunately happened again and again.”
Officials at Goodwill OC and the Regional Center of OC said they hope to show local and state legislators that the ISE is an effective “service delivery model.” Their ultimate goal is for California’s Department of Development Services to create “flexible rate models” and ensure employees have the support they need, while allowing the program to grow.
But Cazares said that “time is ticking” — and that the current grant money can only keep the program alive until next February.
“With a greater investment in those individuals (who) require enhanced services, this is a new model that works,” he said. “We have found the pieces that are needed to support individuals who have those higher needs…to give them a meaningful day, and make them a part of their community through employment.”
Added VP Adams, “We’ve seen firsthand that with the right, upfront support, individuals with significant disabilities can thrive in the workforce and contribute meaningfully to their communities.”