Arc of Monroe celebrates first ArcNext internship graduates in Orange County

Arc of Monroe marked the first graduates of its ArcNext internship program with a six-student inaugural class that moved from training into a formal graduation ceremony. The new program is a paid, 8-week internship built around hands-on, experiential learning and aimed at opening a route into human services jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Arc of Monroe says ArcNext is part of its Job Path Employment Services, a longer-running employment initiative that has connected people to jobs in the Rochester area for more than 40 years. The organization says Job Path was the first to establish employment services for people with disabilities in Western New York in 1981, giving ArcNext a place inside a much larger disability-employment system rather than as a one-off experiment.

The program’s first class gives employers and families a concrete example of what supported entry into the workforce can look like. The students in the inaugural ArcNext group were introduced to careers in human services, where the work focuses on supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Arc of Monroe says participants gain the skills, knowledge and practical tools needed to begin a career in that field, which makes the program more than a resume line and closer to a bridge between classroom preparation and paid work.

That structure matters for Orange County as local businesses and nonprofit providers search for ways to fill jobs while widening access for workers who have often been left out of traditional hiring pipelines. ArcNext’s model, paid work plus guided learning, is the kind of framework employers in Orange County could adapt if they want to build their own disability-inclusive talent pipeline. The program’s focus on job readiness also fits a broader workforce trend across the Hudson Valley: employers increasingly want workers who can step into real responsibilities, and training programs that combine experience with coaching are often the fastest way to build that readiness.

Arc of Monroe also operates SELF at The Strong, an employment-readiness service for young people with autism based at The Strong National Museum of Play. Together with Job Path and ArcNext, the services show a deliberate emphasis on moving people from support programs into real employment settings, with the first ArcNext graduates serving as the clearest proof that the approach can produce a completed class and a visible milestone.