About The Project SEARCH Model

Project SEARCH was developed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1996 by Erin Riehle and Susie Rutkowski. Erin was the Director of Cincinnati Children’s Emergency Department and saw a need to hire people with learning differences so long as the hospital was providing services to this group.

She saw a need for people to be trained in systematic, high turnover positions in the Emergency Department and thought an opportunity might exist for people who traditionally were under utilized in the workforce.

Erin presented her ideas to Susie Rutkowski, then the special education director at Great Oaks Career Campuses. Erin and Susie formed a partnership that was instantaneous, and together they launched Project SEARCH.

Since its inception, Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site at Cincinnati Children’s to a large and continuously expanding international network of sites. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.