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Project STELLAR
The overall goal of the STELLAR (Supporting Transition to Engaged Lives by Linking Agency Resources) project is to develop the capabilities of families to be informed and effective partners in their children with disabilities transition to adult life; and to facilitate system change that supports all children and young adults with special needs to achieve the realization of their personal goals in education, employment, living outcomes and community integration.
Project STELLAR will address the need for increased involvement of families both during the planning stages of transition and across school and community systems. This project will provide training and information to enable individuals with disabilities and their families (including parents, adult siblings, and extended family members, as well as guardians and advocates) to participate more effectively with professionals from educational, vocational, independent living and rehabilitation systems.
Innovative approaches to this initiative include:
- The creation of STELLAR Transition Parent Mentors who will be identified for each of the 22 regions across Missouri in which Centers for Independent Living (CIL) currently operate. The Transition Parent Mentors will be responsible for facilitating ongoing face-to-face training, information and technical assistance to individuals with disabilities, families, CIL and VR staff, as well as other critical transition and employment stakeholders.
- The Transition Mentors will be trained using a modular training series, both in person and online, offered through MPACT. This online training will specifically address the needs of parents, family members, and individuals with disabilities and will focus on providing specific and timely information about transition planning, employment systems, independent living, and other rehabilitation agencies and systems that impact the outcomes of individuals with disabilities.
- Ongoing coordination and collaboration among employment, independent living, and other rehabilitation systems through the development of Regional Transition Networks (RTN) and a Statewide Coordinating Council (SCC). This council will be coordinated by MPACT and be made up of members of the MPACT board of directors who represent the major family, vocational and independent living systems in Missouri. A particular focus of the Council will be to identify existing statewide training, information and systems change efforts related to transition, independent living, and employment.
- Providing user-friendly Missouri specific information and training to better understand VR and CIL programs and services through the adaptation and expansion of MPACT’s website to include a resource database, basic information and multiple links and resources to five federal systems impacting youth with disabilities (i.e., U.S. Dept. of Education, Health and Human Services, Social Security, Juvenile Justice, and Dept. of Labor).
- Providing focused outreach and training to family members from cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds by working with cultural groups and community organizations This effort will be developed and piloted during the first year of the grant in Kansas City, MO and will be replicated across other areas of Missouri in subsequent years. The focus of this outreach and training will be to develop community transition networks consisting of cultural organizations, community centers and faith-based organizations to which CLD families are already connected.