Sara Hastings, Vocational Specialist
Sara currently serves as a Vocational Specialist for Careworks, helping individuals with occupational and non-occupational injuries and disabilities obtain and maintain appropriate employment opportunities. This includes analyzing medical and vocational information, providing career counseling, and generating a vocational rehabilitation plan.
Her experience includes conducting personal vocational assessments, vocational evaluations, labor market surveys, career counseling, and job placement and job seeking skills training. Sara also provided impartial vocational expert testimony, nationwide, to Administrative Law Judges at Social Security Disability hearings and was responsible for providing information and expert opinion, based on up-to-date knowledge of the existence and incidence of jobs in the labor market, work settings, and skill level and physical demands of the job.
“I am thrilled to be at Careworks performing a wide variety of services to individuals with disabilities. The different lines of service I get to work in keeps the job feeling engaging and exciting.”
Challenge
One day while working, Sara was referred an injured employee, *Raveena, and was immediately struck by her fascinating background, as she was formerly in the Marines. Raveena shared stories of her time at sea, where she served as a second cook, chief cook, and ultimately chief steward aboard NOAA vessels. She entered this line of work later in life, driven by the need to support her children’s college education and earn a stable income. What began as a practical decision soon became a passion, as Raveena grew to love life at sea and the opportunity to travel extensively.
Unfortunately, her maritime career ended abruptly due to a work-related injury. Since then, she has faced significant emotional challenges, including periods of depression. Despite these hardships, Raveena remained committed to vocational rehabilitation and was approved for computer training, where she gained proficiency in Microsoft applications.
Solution
However, due to limitations in both hands restricting her from repetitive grasping, lifting, carrying, and managing tasks, she was hesitant to pursue roles that required extensive typing or mouse use. A previous rehabilitation counselor had developed a plan targeting hospital admitting clerk and civil service clerk positions. Later, these roles were explored during the PNE process, but Raveena became increasingly discouraged as she reviewed the physical demands outlined in the job descriptions.
During one of their meetings, Raveena shared that a neighbor had introduced her to a caregiving opportunity through a union that offers paid training, benefits, and a job-matching platform, connecting care providers with clients. She pursued this path with determination, completing the application process, background check, required paperwork, and training to become qualified. She also began advertising her services using custom business cards and word-of-mouth referrals. Her plan included maintaining a private client schedule on weekends, with rates ranging from $20-25/hour depending on travel requirements.
Result
Since their initial meeting, Raveena has successfully affiliated with the caregiver union and now possesses the skills and credentials to perform in this role. She has prior experience in caregiving and chose this path to ease back into the workforce in a manner that is physically sustainable and personally meaningful. Throughout the PNE process, she demonstrated remarkable initiative and resilience. Sara’s role was primarily to support and encourage the Raveena, as she took ownership of her journey.
Raveena shared that she had been in a dark place for years following her injury but now feels hopeful and excited about contributing to a field that is both essential and fulfilling. Toward the end of the file, Sara expressed how much of a joy it was to support Raveena, and Raveena responded by saying that anyone who gets to work with Sara is lucky, as she appreciated the consistent positivity and encouragement she received during their meetings.
In Raveena’s final email, she included a photo of herself smiling and said, “I’m sending a picture so you can see the happy smile you helped to retrieve.”
*Name changed for privacy purposes