By Kim Brown

Graduate to Work (GTW), a two-year (10/1/02 to 9/30/04) employment grant sponsored by the Montana Council on Developmental Disabilities, is a collaborative venture between the Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) and the Rural Institute on Disabilities. The purpose of this project is to increase access to community employment for students with developmental disabilities by creating a model transition-to-employment program in Missoula schools that can be replicated by other locales. GTW seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of individually-driven employment exploration and vocational planning, as well as to foster lasting systems change.

Grant-funded activities over the two-year period have included:

Each of the students receives individualized transition-to-career services, including:

Led by the Transition Team of Sue Furey (Transition Specialist) and Chris Crabb (Job Coach), MCPS embraced the model and worked toward developing and promoting a seamless transition from school to work for students with developmental disabilities. Each fall, students and their families are now invited to a presentation by school transition, VR, DD, and Community Rehabilitation Provider (adult agency) staff. In addition to learning what each entity offers and how to access services, families are able to speak privately with representatives after the meeting and discuss their individual circumstances. Sue and Chris also distribute a monthly “STEPS to Transition” newsletter to students and their families – this publication shares Missoula success stories, offers transition-related tips, and provides a wealth of information about local resources to help students with disabilities “live, work, and play” in their community.

Collaboration and networking have become regular components of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Students are referred to DD services at age 16, and to VR the year before their exit year of high school. DD and VR representatives are invited and encouraged to attend the IEP meetings. Whenever possible, joint intake sessions occur (i.e., VR counselors and DD case managers simultaneously gather the information they need for eligibility during one meeting, thereby relieving the family of having to provide these details twice.)

If the student qualifies for DD services, he or she may be added to a waiting list for those services. However, the assigned DD case manager stays actively involved and participates in transition planning activities, such as IEP and Employment Planning meetings.

Students who qualify for VR and who may need additional assessment are invited to a provider forum, held every two weeks. This allows them to hear again from each adult agency what services they can offer, and enables the family to make an informed decision about which provider the student would like to choose. Both the VR counselor and the adult agency staff person become part of the transition team and actively participate in IEP and Employment Planning meetings.

Over the past two years, the Missoula-area VR office has provided funding to adult agencies for numerous employment-related services, including Vocational Profiles, the writing of Social Security Plans for Achieving Self-Support (PASS plans), and job development and wages for paid community-based work assessments. In at least one instance, the work assessment turned into an offer of paid employment, which the student accepted.

To maximize funding and take advantage of the history school personnel have with students, Sue Furey has taken primary responsibility for developing Vocational Profiles and Marketing Portfolios for GTW participants. She also generally facilitates the Employment Planning meetings. Starting with the 2004/2005 school year, MCPS has an assigned transition specialist at each of the three high schools to ensure these employment-focused activities continue.

Schools have also conducted some job development and provided job coaches for students who are completing work assessments in the community. Chris Crabb or other paraeducators serve as the coaches. In the spring of 2004, Region V Comprehensive System for Personnel Development (CSPD) and the Rural Institute joined forces to provide job coach training for paraeducators; they hope to make this an ongoing feature.

Community employers have been invaluable in their willingness to meet with job developers, explore unmet business needs, creatively plan how a student being marketed to them can meet those needs, and open their doors as work assessment sites. By matching the student’s ideal conditions, contributions, interests, and job skills to those present in the selected business, as well as to the business’s unmet needs, young people with disabilities can become competent, valued employees.

To brainstorm solutions to any roadblocks that may arise, as well as to share expertise, resources, and information, staff from adult agencies serving students in the project (Opportunity Resources, Inc. and MontanaWorks at this time), the Rural Institute Transition Project Coordinator, and the MCPS Transition Team met weekly during the grant project. These regular meetings continue, though on a less-frequent basis, now that the GTW grant has ended. Ms. Furey has also initiated meetings with local mental health providers, and the Rural Institute organized and facilitated two VR Roundtable sessions at which school personnel, VR and DD staff, and adult agency representatives discussed ways of enhancing collaborative efforts to even better meet the needs of local youth with disabilities. Finally, using a template provided by the Rural Institute, the Transition Team developed a poster to help families and educators understand which agencies students should be referred to at what age and for which services.

In these times of dwindling resources, both monetary and human, it is critical to maximize what is available and to make certain services provided are efficient, effective, and appropriate. The GTW model demonstrated in Missoula shows how cooperation between agencies, schools, and local businesses can help students with developmental disabilities exit high school with paid employment and the necessary supports in place to be successful on the job.

Graduate to Work is a University of Montana Rural Institute grant funded by the Montana Council on Developmental Disabilities. Under this grant, the Rural Institute and the Missoula County Public Schools partnered in implementing a model transition project with selected students in the local high schools. This included providing start-up funds to offset some of the initial costs.