Hi Folks. I am taking this blog to talk about the Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care Inc. (PPRC) practice of supporting students in the Co-op program at local colleges and universities. We have supported students from Ottawa and Laurentian Universities and Université du Québec en Outaouais, as well as, Algonquin and Herzing Colleges in Ottawa.  PPRC has provided opportunities to co-op students for several years now and we have also reaped the benefits of this program.

The Algonquin Placement is designed to give work experience to students in the Social Service Worker Program.  The students work for a period of 196 hours per semester as determined by the college. They are expected to actively participate in the PPRC delivery of services to persons with disabilities.  

As the participating business, PPRC agrees to provide the students with training in our methodology, access to working with clients and hands on experience.  Brittany Williston is the consultant at PPRC administering the program.  

She assigns work to the students and she supervises their daily and weekly activities. At the end of the placement, PPRC provides feedback to the college on each student and their placement progress. The placements contribute directly to the student’s college assessment.

Why would a business want this extra workload?  The reason, the interns assigned are usually excellent, they are committed, they sincerely want to learn and grow with the opportunity and they provide an invaluable service to PPRC as well.  It also allows PPRC to stay in touch with the colleges, the current curriculum and we enjoy giving the interns an opportunity to learn and decide if this field of work is right for them.  The Social Services is one of the areas where growth is expected. There is an ever-increasing demand for vocational rehabilitation.  The population of persons with disabilities is growing and the work environment is changing.  Valuable placements for students / interns in this field are often difficult to find.  

The real question is whether or not the interns find value in the placement that they complete. At PPRC I think they do, but I am biased.  So that question is better asked of the participants’ themselves. Ask the Colleges if they have good or bad feedback from previous students, ask if they have received meaningful assessments of the work performance.  Then ask the students or interns that have worked with PPRC. 

PPRC is a great company filled with lovely people who go to work every day with the sole intention of making someone’s life easier. Everyone at PPRC has succeeded in filling my time there with learning, laughs and unconditional support. I want to thank my supervisor, Brittany for reminding me to push myself and to take credit for my successes, and for supporting me unconditionally. Thank you to PPRC for taking my peers and I on as interns at your business and giving us the tools we need to succeed in our future careers.  

Kieranne Wharry

I’d like to thank Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care Inc. for giving me so many opportunities and learning experiences. Everyone is amazing to work with, and it was a privilege to be able to be a part of the team. This organization has such a passion for helping people, I will definitely transfer that passion into my future endeavours. Thank you PPRC for the amazing experience, I will miss working with all of you! 

Elysa Essiambre

Expressing heart felt gratitude to Performance Plus for giving me this wonderful opportunity to do my internship at PPRC.  A great thanks to my supervisor Brittany for the great job she is doing in making sure I have the necessary experience I need to become a professional social service worker. To Linda and the entire team, I just want to say thank you.

Jonie Calvin Achelengwa

PPRC believes in planning for the future, we know we will need more qualified workers available to meet the increasing need for service.  So we help.  We help the interns get experience, we help the college find placements in an appropriate field and we help ourselves by training and assessing new workers and ultimately making employment for everyone more inclusive and accessible.

Now that’s worth the time.  

If you want to join the discussion, join me here on the blog.  If you have questions, contact PPRC at 1-800-427-6214 or visit us at www.pprc.ca  .  You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter @PPRCOttawa or on YouTube  at ‘pprcottawa‘