ETI’s mission is to assist persons with disabilities to achieve successful careers in competitive employment.
Incorporated in November of 1986, ETI designed and implemented the first Supported Employment programs in Bucks County. The agency’s founding members — N. Chris Carabello, Administrator; Theodore Rysz Jr., Fiscal Directory; Elyn Carabello, Personnel Director — remain as the Administrative Staff even today.
ETI represents a unique model — a nonprofit organization incorporated for the sole purpose of being an employment agency for persons with disabilities. ETI has maintained its focus upon providing the finest quality of supported employment services possible.
At a time when segregated facilities were the only option for persons with disabilities in Bucks County, ETI developed a Pennsylvania Competitive Supported Employment Grant for Bucks County. For the first few years of that grant, monthly meetings of a task force were held, including Administrators of the local Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Office of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Special Education, and Social Security.
ETI has contracted with local, state, and federal funding sources for more than 23 years to provide employment services. The agency fully complies with all requirements of its funding agencies in regards to customers’ rights, and confidentiality.
ETI provides placement and job supports to approximately 120 employed customers per year. Approximately 50% are new placements each year. The other half is persons who continue to require some level of follow-up support to maintain their job positions. The latter group includes persons who have been employed successfully since ETI’s earliest years.
