The Transition and Employment Projects at the University of Montana Rural Institute are committed to developing and disseminating information and providing training that leads to quality, inclusive outcomes for youth and adults with disabilities.

We offer:

• Consultation,
• Training,
• Technical Assistance,
• and Product Development Services.

Our services are unique in that they promote:

• Customized Employment strategies for individuals with significant impact of disability
• Individualized Transition Planning for youth with significant disabilities
• Self-employment as work experience or as an employment outcome
• The use of Social Security work incentives
• Early transition planning for students (middle school or sooner)
• Collaborative funding across agencies to create individually-driven employment supports
• Self-determination for individuals with disabilities

Consultation, Training and Technical Assistance Services
We are available to provide consultation, training and/or technical assistance for your target audience (parents, youth, school staff, provider agency staff) at your site or through long distance technology, either short-term or ongoing.  Topics we can address include (but are not limited to):

• Using Self-Management Strategies to Promote Independence at School, Home, in the Community and at Work


• Community Employment for Everyone


• Customized Employment, Discovery, and the Vocational Profile


• Weaving Discovery into the School Day


• Building and Using Representational Portfolios for Youth with Disabilities to Explain Their Skills, Experiences and Impact of Disability


• Representational Portfolios and Job Development


• Customized Employment as a Strategy for People with Psychiatric Disabilities


• Developing a Plan for Long-Term Job Retention for Employees with Psychiatric Disabilities


• An Evolution of Work Experiences in the Transition Process


• An Overview of SSI and SSDI and Implications for Transition Planning


• Social Security Work Incentives and Transition


• Transition Planning for Youth with Significant Support Needs


• Summertime Transition Activities


• Self-Determination and Self-Advocacy

Product Development

• Newsletters
• Fact sheets
• Listserv creation and maintenance
• Information “blasts” to listserv members
• Forms and tools
• Monographs, workbooks, book chapters, etc.

Here are just a few of our past customers:

• Beaverhead County High School, Dillon, MT
• Project to Improve Transition to Adulthood for Youth with Serious Mental Illness, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Addictive and Mental Disorders Division
• Manhattan High School, Manhattan, MT
• Southeast TACE (Technical Assistance & Continuing Education Center)
• Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
• Virginia Department of Education, Radford, VA
• PACER Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center
• Howard County Public Schools, MD
• Martin County Schools, Stuart, FL
• WISE, Seattle, WA
• Leon County Schools, Tallassee, FL
• University of Nevada, Reno, NV
• Networks for Training, Philadelphia, PA
• Spokane County Developmental Disabilities Services, Spokane, WA

Please contact our office to discuss custom-tailoring a knowledge translation package that will meet your specific needs.

Ellen Condon
(406) 243-4134
condon@ruralinstitute.umt.edu

Kim Brown
(406) 243-4852
brown@ruralinstitute.umt.edu

The Rural Institute on Disabilities
700 SW Higgins Ave., Suite 250
Missoula, MT 59803