Affiliations: Institute on Community Integration, University of
Minnesota, MN, USA | Rise, Incorporated, Spring Lake Park, MN, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Don Lavin, Vice President, Rise,
Incorporated, 8406 Sunset Road Northeast; Spring Lake Park, MN 55432, USA.
Tel.: +1 763 783 2815; Fax: +1 763 786 0008; E-mail: dlavin@rise.org; http:
www.rise.org (Organizational Web Site)
Abstract: Current school-to-career transition practices are not leading to
sufficient levels of competitive employment and post-secondary education
outcomes for youth and young adults with significant disabilities despite
progressive mandates and policy improvements in federal and state secondary and
post-secondary education, vocational rehabilitation, and workforce development
services. To address this concern, a coalition in a Twin Cities suburban area
established an "interagency community of practice" to explore systems change
opportunities and to improve school-to-career outcomes. The Anoka County
Transition & Customized Employment (TCE) Project was designed to inject
an "employment-first" philosophy into transition practices by introducing a
range of customized employment strategies. After a five-year project
demonstration period, TCE had enrolled 475 young people with various
disabilities from seven autonomous school districts. An independent evaluation
of TCE's performance revealed that 62% of all enrolled students had
individualized job placements in the workforce at competitive wages. In
addition, competitive employment wage outcomes were attained by 72% of all
enrolled "out-of-school" participants including high school graduates, youth
completing their Individualized Education Program (IEP) academic objectives,
and secondary education dropouts.
Keywords: Customized employment, transition, collaboration, students with disabilities, youth with disabilities
