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Fifth Third Bank supports high school students with disabilities



10/15/2022

Fifth Third provides competitive employments to students with disabilities on completion of its 1 year program.


Fifth Third Bank supports high school students with disabilities
In a statement Fifth Third Bank Corp said, “We are proud of 16 years of leading Project SEARCH”.

Project SEARCH, a school-to-workplace transition for high school students who are affected by disabilities. Fifth Third has a goal of providing students with competitive employment upon completion of the one-year program.

“We are one of the founders of this public-private partnership, developed by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and currently operating in more than 625 locations worldwide,” reads Fifth Third Bank Corp’s ESG report.

Fifth Third has run Project SEARCH programs for more than 16 years in Cincinnati and 14 years in Grand Rapids, Michigan. By 2022, it had trained more than 382 people; of which 33 have currently joined the Bank”.

Recently, Fifth Third has partnered with EverFi and has provided our Finance Academy curriculum to more than 500 Project SEARCH programs across the globe.

The program’s annual golf trips have exceeded expectations and drew record attendance and raised $50,000 through grants and from support of Fifth Third. To date, this event has raised more than $1.6 million in support of the program.

Basing itself on the needs identified by people with disabilities, Fifth Third has provided a special financial education course for teammates who live with or have family members with disabilities. The 2021 session focuses on helping these families manage day-to-day expenses, utilize tier 5 benefits, get the most out of government resources, and plan for long-term needs.

Fifth Third was the first bank to design a checking account for the Achieve a Better Life Experience (ABLE) program. An ABLE account is a state-funded savings and investment account that allows people with disabilities and their families to save and invest personal assets for disability-related expenses without loss of access. with tested federal benefits, such as Supplemental Social Security Income, Medicaid, HUD, SNAP, and more.

“Our ABLE account is the result of our work with the National ABLE Alliance, an organization dedicated to providing people with disabilities and their families with low-cost investment products. We've seen program participation grow 87% from 2020 to 2021, and we've expanded our verification product to our Michigan area,” said Fifth Third.

In order to continue its journey to becoming a leading employer of people with disabilities, Fifth Third has embarked on the development of a neurodiversity recruitment program in 2021.

“We have signed an agreement with Autism Integrated Employment Counseling to support this program, allowing us to recruit neuroscientific candidates who will bring unique skills and perspectives”, said Fifth Third.