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Life Skills Enhancement Center |
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It is REHAB’s goal to create with this proposed project a means of bridging the gap for young people that still exists between life as student and life as a working young adult. REHAB is proposing the creation of a Life Skills Enhancement Center to address the unmet needs of young adults.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
REHAB Programs, Inc. has successfully provided community integrated Supported Employment for adults since 1987 and added an equally successful community based School to Work component in 1997. It is REHAB’s goal to create with this proposed project a means of bridging the gap for young people that still exists between life as student and life as a working young adult. REHAB is proposing the creation of a Life Skills Enhancement Center to address the unmet needs of young adults. While historically focusing on the vocational aspect, this project seeks to support other valuable areas of life that ultimately support an individual’s vocational success. The Center will provide peer support and mentoring, opportunities to explore and become involved in their community and workshops for the development of independent living skills. The target population to be served with this project is young adults with a developmental disability who are within two years of exiting school or who have exited within the last three years.
Both consumers and family members and/or advocates will be included on the standing Pilot Evaluation Committee that will be charged with the responsibility of developing the project in its initial phase. During the proposal development, family members and educators have already contributed their support, outlining how the proposed Center addresses their concerns for young adults (see attached letters of support). Participants in the project will also be included in the ongoing development and evaluation of the project.
While the School to Work component will oversee this project, it also falls under the larger umbrella of REHAB’s Supported Employment program. To date, neither of the programs has formally provided support in areas other than vocational. This proposal draws on our success there and our commitment to altering program design to serve unmet needs. The proposed Life Skills Enhancement Center will expand areas of support to include ancillary vocational supports, peer mentoring along with recreational opportunities and independent living skills.
As described in the body of the OPTS proposal, a Pilot Evaluation Committee will be established to oversee the continuing development and evaluation efforts for the Life Skills Enhancement Center. Of primary importance will be satisfaction surveys from those involved with the program including all consumers, families and/or advocates as well as staff. The project will also be evaluated based on portfolios developed by those consumers receiving services through the Center. Additionally, statistical data will be gathered from the adult Supported Employment program to measure expected job placement and retention outcomes.
The attached program description and budget reflect the expected resources including both fiscal and personnel that will be required for REHAB to further develop its array of services to young people in addition to helping meet a largely unmet and growing need in the community.
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