(Click here for information on becoming a Transition Mentor)
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. This goal is being achieved through a collaborative partnership
between Missouri Parents ACT (MPACT) and the Kansas University Transition
Coalition.
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 through a collaborative
partnership between Missouri Parents ACT (MPACT) and the Transition Coalition.
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 highly effective
series online continuing education trainings offered through the
Transition Coalition. 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 and a Statewide Coordinating Council. This
council will be coordinated by the STELLAR project director 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 an existing online training resource
targeting
Interagency and Community Services (ICS). This website is designed
to provide any user with 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.