Employment Resources for Foster Youth With Disabilities Paul DiLorenzo, Strategic Consultant Eric Steiner, Advisor Casey Family Programs Systems Improvement April 25, 2013

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Who are We? Casey Family Programs: An Introduction Casey Family Programs 2020 Strategy In Pursuit of our 2020 Goals Five Goals that Shape Our Work Resources from Today’s Webinar 2

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Casey Family Programs 2020 Strategy Safe Reduction Reinvestment Well-being and Self-Sufficiency

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © In Pursuit of Our 2020 Goals Direct service Strategic consulting Public policy, research and strategic communications Partnerships

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Five Goals Shape Our Work Permanent families and connections Successful transitions to adulthood Prevention, early intervention and strengthening families Eliminating racial disproportionality and disparities Improving Indian child welfare 5

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Indian Child Welfare Program Our Indian Child Welfare Act Program, based in Denver, is committed to developing a shared community vision for improving child welfare systems serving American Indian and Alaska Native children and their families. The unit engages leaders from the tribal, state, federal and private sectors and seeks guidance from community leadership. We value traditional beliefs and customs about child rearing and protection by supporting traditional American Indian and Alaska Native child welfare practices with shared responsibility for children, community values, and other cultural practices enforced by extended families.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Youth With Disabilities Are… Three times as likely to drop out of high school. Half as likely to attend or finish college (Those who do finish are more likely to have taken a less rigorous course load). More likely to be unemployed or underemployed. Three times as likely to live in poverty as adults. Four times as likely to be adjudicated.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Foster Youth in Special Education Have lower grade point averages (than youth in general education). Change schools more frequently (than youth in general education and special education only) Earn fewer credits toward graduation (than youth in general education). Have lower scores on state testing (than youth in general education and foster care only).

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Foster Youth in Special Education Are more likely to be exempted from state testing (than youth in general education and foster care only). Are more likely to be in segregated special education classes (than youth in special education only). Have more instability in foster care placement (than youth in foster care only). Fostering Futures Project: Are We Ignoring Foster Youth With Disabilities?

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © About that “Transition Cliff” Youth need:  connection to family, peers and caring adults;  completion of age appropriate educational levels;  a safe and stable and stable place to live;  opportunities for career exploration and employment;  an understanding of how to manage financial assets; and opportunities for social and civic engagement. For foster youth with disabilities, they can be doubly- disadvantaged, but we can work together to help them avoid “The Transition Cliff.”

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Transition and The Work Force Youth who drop out of school are:  72% more likely to be unemployed.  Earn 27% less than high school graduates (U.S. Department of Labor, 2003). Youth without a high school diploma, are three times more likely to live in poverty (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001). Every student dropout costs the government over $200,000 in public spending (Gonzales et al., 2002).

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Foster Youth With Disabilities Need To be engaged in creating, modifying and integrating their Individualized Education Program, Transition Plan and/or Independent Living Plan, To be aware that they can bring a non-parental adult, friend, or guardian at litem to their IEP meetings, To understand the relationships between benefits planning and career choices, and To learn to communicate their disability-related work support and accommodation needs.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Foster Youth With Disabilities Need to learn to find, formally request and secure appropriate supports and reasonable accommodations in education, training and employment settings, mentors and role models including persons with and without disabilities, and an understanding of disability history, culture, and disability public policy issues and their rights and responsibilities.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Foster youth with disabilities need Parents, families and other caring adults who have: an understanding of their youth’s disability and how it affects his or her education, employment and/or daily living options, knowledge of rights and responsibilities under various disability-related legislation, knowledge of and access to programs, services, supports and accommodations available for young people with disabilities; and an understanding of how individualized planning tools can assist youth in achieving transition goals and objectives.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Despite These Challenges… We can work together to: recognize the resiliency and potential of foster youth with disabilities, better align our systems to improve the employment and well-being outcomes of foster youth with disabilities, provide opportunities for our youth to have a sense of purpose, pride and accomplishment, help our youth contribute to the community and contribute to their own self-determination, and connect foster youth with disabilities to supportive adults that can lead to lifelong connections.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © We Know… People with disabilities form a diverse minority group that crosses ethnicity, gender, race, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. People with disabilities are the largest minority group, and it is the only group any one of us can become a member of at any time. That workers with a disability will perform well on the job if accommodated appropriately. Of the 69.6 million families in the United States, more than 20 million have at least one family member with a disability. That evidence-based strategies like Customized Employment can be effective for foster youth with disabilities.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Questions and Answers Questions and Answers for Paul DiLorenzo, Strategic Consultant for Casey Family Programs

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Three Effective Programs Marriott Bridges… From School to Work Treehouse Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) Program

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Marriott Bridges... From School to Work Locations: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. Key Features: Meeting each worker at their level A Team Approach: School, Employer, Counselor, Bridges Staff In-depth Assessment: involving youth and parents. Customized Employment: One Job at a Time Supportive and Nurturing Job Coaching An Orientation Toward Competitive Employment (Long Term) website:

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Marriott Bridges... Objectives and Results After months in the program, participants will advance if they have met three of five criteria (exceptions apply for individuals with severe or profound disabilities). The five areas are: increase in hourly wage; increase in hours worked per week; quantifiable increase in job responsibilities or transfer to a position with such an increase; pursuit of postsecondary education or training; and continuous employment for twelve months. Note: The criteria are presented as a method to measure progress, and individuals are not penalized if they do not meet the criteria. Short video (5:35):

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Treehouse ( Location: Seattle (Replicated Throughout Washington State) Key Features: Exclusively Serves Youth in Foster Care Treehouse’s Educational Advocacy Program (Team Approach) Partners: Children’s Administration, Casey Family Programs, the Mockingbird Society and Seattle University Foster Care to College Mentorship Program Eligible for Independent Living Services (ages 14 to 21) Interested in pursuing post-secondary education or training “A Safe Place to Dream” – motto Tutoring and Enrichment Activities (e.g., Summer Camp)

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Treehouse Objectives and Results In 2010, 90% of the seniors served by Treehouse graduated from high school. Of those youth, 79% enrolled in a post- secondary program. During the school year, approximately half of Treehouse’s school-based tutoring students gained more than one grade-level of skill during a single academic year. Treehouse’s Educational Advocacy Program links foster families, schools, social workers and foster youth to preserve students’ rights to intervention, testing and accommodation, boosting their chances of academic success. Workshops for foster, adoptive, kinship and birth parents identify and address barriers to a youth’s educational success.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Texas PAL Program Location: Texas (Statewide) Key Features: Priority for Services (Texas Workforce Commission Policy) Memoranda Between Child Welfare and Workforce Agency Comprehensive Menu of Services Nine Outreach Centers (diverse funding sources) Partnerships with Education, Mental Health and Employers Coordination with Education (Tuition Waiver Up to Age 25) Transitional Living Allowances (Up to $3,000) A Team Approach (including DFPS Disability Specialists) Career-Oriented Mentorship

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Texas PAL Program Objectives and Results Participants gained full-time employment earlier and were more likely to complete high school or a GED at a younger age than nonparticipants. In 2010, 7,701 youth ages 16 through 20 participated in the Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) program compared to 7,735 youth participants in In 2010, PAL staff successfully contacted 933 out of 1,429 former foster care youth ages to 120 days after they exited the foster care system, and 316 youth (34%) were employed full or part-time as compared with 304 (36%) youth in FY Short Video (2:15)

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Two Key Reports Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System: Barriers to Success and Proposed Policy Solutions Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System: Barriers to Success and Proposed Policy Solutions People With Disabilities on Tribal Lands: Education, Health Care, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Independent Living People With Disabilities on Tribal Lands: Education, Health Care, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Independent Living

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © What Can States Do? How States Can Support Youth in Foster Care. This National Governors’ Association report highlights effective state strategies and promising approaches aimed at improving outcomes for foster youth in the following five areas: Education - promote educational attainment; Employment - connect youth with employment and career training; Housing - enhance access to safe and affordable housing; Health care - help you gain access to and manage health care; and Relationships - help youth build stable and lifelong relationships.

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Additional Resources National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities: Employment Connections National Research Center on Learning Disabilities Social Security Administration Ticket to Work National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability – Youth Disability.gov

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Questions and Answers Questions for Eric Steiner, Advisor, Casey Family Programs

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © The last word: from Jim Casey “Casey will not only provide direct service, but change community attitudes toward foster parenthood, work with other agencies for mutual improvement, provide expert methods of foster care and child development, and cooperate in community efforts to improve serves to children” -JIM CASEY, Founder, Casey Family Programs

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Casey Family Programs Contacts Paul DiLorenzo, Strategic Consultant Eric Steiner, Advisor Casey Family Programs 2001 Eighth Avenue, Suite 2700 Seattle, WA (206)

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Thank You

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Education Credits CRCC Credit - (2.0 - pending) Pending approval by Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) By May 9th participants must score 80% or better on a online Post Test and submit an online CRCC Request Form via the MyTACE Portal. My TACE Portal: TACEsoutheast.org/myportal

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Southeast TACE Region IV Toll-free: (866) [voice/tty] Fax: (404) Web: TACEsoutheast.org MyTACE Portal: TACEsoutheast.org/myportal

TACE Center: Region IV, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute. Funded by RSA Grant # H264A © Disclaimer This presentation was developed by the TACE Center: Region IV ©2013 with funds from the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) under the priority of Technical Assistance and Continuing Education Projects (TACE) – Grant #H264A However, the contents of this presentation do not necessarily represent the policy of the RSA and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government [34 CFR (b)].