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PROMISE to Present at the National Press Club: Improving the Trajectories for Youth with Disabilities and Families Living in Poverty

The Project Directors and select staff from each of the PROMISE Projects will be presenting on the findings from the implementation of these projects. Topics include:

• Accomplishments and Challenges in the Context of Disability and Poverty
• Systemic and Local Coordination and Collaboration of Services across Agencies
• Federal, State, and Local Implications for Youth Receiving SSI and their Families

The presentation will take place at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on April 24, 2019 at 1pm Eastern. A live webcast of the event will begin at 1:45pm Eastern.

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ASPIRE and OSEP Present at ACRES 2019: 'Building PROMISE: Increasing Education and Employment Outcomes for Tribal Youth and Families'

American Indian Youth are often underrepresented in research initiatives. ASPIRE intentionally planned and targeted supports to meet the unique needs of the youth receiving SSI among tribes in six western states. Tisha Harry, ASPIRE Montana Coordinator, Carol Ruddell, ASPIRE Project Director, and David Emenheiser, OSEP Project Officer, recently presented at the 2019 ACRES (American Council for Rural Special Education) Conference. In their presentation, they emphasized the critical need to build relationships with the tribes and individual members. Past relationships between American Indian Tribes and the federal government have impacted the work of agencies and others with the tribes. ASPIRE intentionally contacted 48 tribes to build relationships and seek their approval. ASPIRE received IRB/Council approval from 11 tribes in the six ASPIRE states to recruit and enroll youth who live in Indian Country. Many lessons have been learned over the past five years that have resulted in greater understanding and service provision. The presentation also included how to leverage the lessons learned from PROMISE for developing future initiatives in partnership with tribal communities.

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Promising Practices: Work Experiences for Youth with Disabilities

In this brief, Kelli Crane and Meredith Gramlich outline Maryland PROMISE's approach in developing youth work experiences for PROMISE youth and why work experience is a fundamental component of the PROMISE intervention. The brief also provides data on how many MD PROMISE youth participated in at least one work experience and how many participants participated in more than one work experience, sorted by whether the experiences were paid or unpaid. Crane and Gramlich also discuss the strategies and practices implemented, including work with schools, vocational rehabilitation, and employers, individualized job development, and establishing clear targets for staff, to maximize the number of participants with valuable work experience.

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Wisconsin PROMISE Presents at AMCHP 2019: Impact of Wisconsin PROMISE on Family Engagement

Wisconsin PROMISE partnered with Wisconsin's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) program, the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to present at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) 2019 Conference. They talked about family engagement efforts with Wisconsin Children and Special Health Care Needs and their families and shared a PROMISE video featuring the full family to show how family support and engagement were essential components of PROMISE services and supports (please see the Clemens-Clarks and Boston-Baileys videos at https://promisewi.com/videos). The Wisconsin PROMISE presentation focused on: (1) Identifying and connecting families with Wisconsin PROMISE Family Advocates with lived experiences; (2) Support provided by PROMISE Family Advocates in increasing expectations of what is possible after high school, and helping navigate systems and supports; and (3) Sustainability through supporting leadership opportunities for PROMISE youth and family members to increase employment opportunities for youth with disabilities in their communities. Click here to see the handouts included in the presentation.

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www.promisetacenter.org

How to sign up for the new PROMISE TA Center Listserv: please sign-up to the PROMISE listserv located at the AUCD PROMISE TA Center website.  You can sign-up by using this link:  http://www.promisetacenter.org/promise_ta_grantees_listserv.