From the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services
MONTGOMERY – Over her 20-year career, Tina Dortch had an enormous impact on the lives of many Alabamians with disabilities. Those efforts were recognized when she was presented with the first AL-APSE Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dortch, who retired from the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services in January of 2022, spotted many of her peers in the audience and used the opportunity to voice her appreciation.
“We have been through a lot in the last 20 years, and I love you and miss you so much,” she said.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was created for the 2022 AL-APSE Conference Awards Ceremony to recognize contributions over the career of an individual who made a significant impact in the field of rehabilitation services. Dortch certainly fits this mold.
She began her career as a clinical intake specialist in Newport News, Virginia, and in 2001 joined the Iowa Department of Rehabilitation Services before joining ADRS as a senior rehabilitation counselor.
Dortch rose through the ranks to become the Statewide Supported Employment Coordinator and later the State Office Administrator.
Dortch possesses a genuine compassion for helping others and had the insight and skill to improve the lives of Alabama citizens. She strengthened the collaboration between ADRS and the Alabama Department of Mental Health. In doing so, she helped bring the national Project SEARCH program to Alabama. It began with two sites in 2012 and grew to 16 by 2020.
Project SEARCH provides high school students an opportunity to explore careers and develop transferable job skills while allowing employers to assess potential employees at no cost. In their final year of high school, students enter the workforce and participate in three 10-week rotating internships to help them acquire the skills needed to succeed and explore career paths.
This breaks down stereotypes by increasing the public’s expectations about people with significant disabilities.
Dortch was quick to share the credit for her successes and urged her former colleagues and coworkers to keep pushing forward.
“Keep doing the great work you do,” she said.
