PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families Designing Futures Team Make PPE for Healthcare and Front-Line Service Providers
Annandale, VA (April 28, 2020) The staff who teach PHILLIPS’ Designing Futures, a career and technical education program that teaches additive manufacturing to students on the autism spectrum, are creating face shields to donate to local workers employed by essential businesses in McLean and Falls Church, Virginia. Face shields were delivered to The Kensington, an assisted living facility and the Chesterbrook Safeway. Nurses in the region have also received ear savers.
PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families Designing Futures Team Make PPE for Healthcare and Front-Line Service Providers 3D Design and Print Students and Instructors Manufacture PPE PHILLIPS Programs President and CEO, Piper Phillips Caswell said “Our staff is dedicated to helping people in need. When we closed our schools, the building management staff collected several hundred N95 masks and donated them to two hospitals. Our 3D design and print staff asked if they could take our two classroom printers home to produce PPE. We then ordered four additional ones to support the effort. These were distributed to additional staff, a current student and a graduate of our program. We are conditioned to helping people experiencing helplessness and were pleased to step in and support workers who need these crucial supplies to stay healthy.”
Designing Futures, a career and technical education curriculum initiated by PHILLIPS Programs to create a paradigm shift in meaningful employment for our youth is mission critical work because the current systems supporting young adults with complex needs transitioning from school to work are not meeting the rising demand. The economic and social costs of unemployment and underemployment include lost income to the individual, lost tax revenue to the government and societal costs such as debt, homelessness and housing stress, family breakdown, alienation, shame and stigma, increased social isolation, the deterioration of work skills and ill-health. Consider the data:
Young adults with disabilities are more than 3 times likelier to live in poverty
Young adults with behavioral health needs are 4 times less likely to find employment, let alone sustainable employment with livable wages.
Of the nearly 18,000 people who used state-funded vocational rehabilitation programs in a given year, only 60 percent left the program with a job. Of these, 80 percent worked part-time at a median weekly rate of $160, putting them well below the poverty level.
To address this crisis, PHILLIPS created Designing Futures where students with behavioral health needs are trained in additive manufacturing working with 3D printers. Youth learn the curriculum, increase engagement, and are exposed to essential soft skills to improve their employment outcomes after graduation.
Currently, the program is located at PHILLIPS School ~ Fairfax and Annandale. Since launching the program in the Fall of 2016 enrollment has more than doubled.
The goal of PHILLIPS’ CTE program is to provide youth with the soft skills, technical skills and drive to succeed so they become gainfully employed. The success of this program has opened a new career pathway in additive manufacturing. PHILLIPS is opening new career pathways for young adults by creating a social enterprise worker enterprise to meet the growing demand for customized 3D prototypes and products and provide employment opportunities for youth transitioning from school to work.
To learn more, visit our PPE page.
About PHILLIPS Programs
PHILLIPS serves youth with behavioral needs. For 53 years, PHILLIPS has helped youth succeed by providing customized support and education through three programs, including: Special Education Day Schools in Annandale, Fairfax and Leesburg VA and Laurel, MD; PHILLIPS Family Partners offering home- and community-based counseling and support; and PHILLIPS Career Partners, which offers our career and technical education avenues including Building Futures, Growing Futures and Designing Futures.