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  3. AIDD's Partnership in Employment Systems Change Grants

AIDD's Partnership in Employment Systems Change Grants

September 30,2011

AIDD’s eight Partnerships in Employment Systems Change projects are funded under Projects of National Significance. These grantees have partnered with various state agencies to form a consortium that will develop and conduct initiatives designed to improve employment outcomes, expand competitive employment in integrated settings, and improve statewide system policies and practices for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The grantees will document their systems change efforts throughout the 5-year project period.

In fiscal year (FY) 2011 AIDD awarded six grants to:

  • University of California Los Angeles

  • Mississippi Department of Mental Health

  • Iowa Department of Human Services

  • University of Rochester (NY)

  • University of Missouri Kansas City

  • Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities

In FY 2012 AIDD awarded additional funding to:

  • Vanderbilt University (TN)

  • Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education (AK)

AIDD also provides funding to two additional grantees for training and technical assistance and evaluation:

  • Training and technical assistance is conducted by the Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts Boston.

  • Process and systems change evaluation is conducted by The Lewin Group.

For more information about each grantee’s project, visit the pages listed under Directly Related Resources on this page.

Purpose

The purpose of these grants is to prioritize employment as the first and preferred option for youth and young adults with I/DD. Grantees will enhance collaboration across existing state systems, including programs administered by state developmental disabilities agencies, state vocational rehabilitation agencies, state educational agencies, and other entities to increase competitive employment outcomes for youth and young adults with I/DD.

Activities

Through state partnerships, grantees will collaborate, connect, and share information, with the overall goal of making changes to state service systems to improve employment outcomes for individuals with I/DD.

The goal of the state partnerships is to:

  • Develop policies that support competitive integrated employment

  • Remove barriers to competitive integrated employment

  • Implement strategies and best practices to improve employment outcomes for youth and young adults with I/DD

  • Enhance statewide collaborations to facilitate the transition process from the school setting to the employment setting


Last modified on 03/13/2017


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