Project SEARCH Capital Area Region: Project SEARCH – Capital Area Region (PSCAR) is a one-year “school-to-work” transition program designed to prepare DCPS adult students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities for competitive employment. Project SEARCH Interns receive daily instruction in employability skills and gain hands-on work experiences by rotating among three 10-week unique paid internships at one or more partnering host hotel site locations. The goal for each student is competitive, integrated employment by the end of the experience. 

Internship sites for PSCAR interns have included: Doubletree by Hilton Crystal City, Embassy Suites by Hilton Convention Center, Cambria Hotel Washington D.C. Riverfront, Embassy Suites by Hilton Crystal City, Fairmont Washington D.C. Georgetown, Hilton Capitol Hill, Hilton Arlington National Landing, and the Waldorf Astoria – Washington D.C. . Through internship rotations, interns may have the opportunity to gain skills in, but are not limited to, the following areas: Front Office, Food and Beverage, Banquets, Engineering, Stewarding, Laundry, Concierge and/or Housekeeping. 

Project SEARCH interns are supported by a Project SEARCH team consisting of the following: Project SEARCH Instructor (DC Public Schools), Job Coaches (SEEC), host site staff, Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist (Rehabilitation Services Administration), and off-site support staff. Through Project SEARCH, students are eligible for career counseling, job coaching, placement services and post-program support services with the Department on Disability Services’ Rehabilitation Services Administration. 

Admissions Criteria

All interested candidates must:

• Be enrolled as a DCPS student, ages 18-21, in their last year of HS.  
• Have a documented intellectual or other developmental disability.  
• Be on a Certificate pathway (non-diploma), as reflected in IEP Diploma Decision status, and have completed all compulsory education requirements, per a transcript review. 
• Agree to graduate at end of the program.  
• Apply and be eligible for vocational rehabilitation services through RSA .  
• Have a desire to work in the community.   
• Have a minimum 80% attendance rate. 
• Be willing to take direction and follow a professional code of conduct. 
• Be willing to utilize public transportation independently (free travel training is provided). 

Eligible, interested students must submit a completed application, and school staff should gather all required supplemental documentation to ensure a complete application packet is submitted to the assigned Transition Coordinator or Project SEARCH staff. The student application window opens no later than the first week of January and closes in February. All prospective applicants are required to attend an open house and tour at a designated PSCAR host site. Eligible applicants will be invited to participate in an interview. Students who advance past the interview stage will then be invited to attend a Skills Assessment Day at a PSCAR host site. Following the Skills Assessment Day, candidates will receive decision letters informing them of their selection status. For more information about Project SEARCH Capital Area Region, please email [email protected].