CBPHP is the beneficiary, through collaboration, of a range of experiences, skills and relationships to support and enhance transition and independent living experiences of youth and young adults with disabilities in Detroit. This has occurred through two programs funded by U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration. They are Detroit Neighborhood Transition Program and Neighborhood-Based Personal Supports Program.
DETROIT NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSITION PROGRAM linked the efforts of Detroit Public Schools, Wayne State University, neighborhood associations and employers to provide supports for high school students with significant disabilities and their family in their transition from school into communities for independent living, employment, continuing education and other needs. Over the programs' three year cycle supports were provided for 72 students: 42% with severe disabilities, 50% moderate disabilities and eight (8%) percent without perceptible disabilities. Students were in the program for periods of one to three years: 65% stayed for one year, 30% for two years and 5% for three years. Thirty-eight students (53%) graduated from high school, 14 students (19%) left without graduating with a diploma while 20 (28%) were still in high school at the end of the program. Eleven students enrolled in college and 23 became employed. Strategies, experiences, skills and lessons from the program serve as the foundation for CBPHP transition program plans. The overall principles and approaches are evolving as framework to assist a number of programs within community organizations in Detroit. Program products that can be creatively used to support transition programs include:
Neighborhood Transition Program Manual which lays out the mutual roles of school districts, parents, university staff, neighborhood groups and organizations in providing transition supports. Documents to assist program implementation are: Community Circles: A Guide for Supporting Youth in Neighborhood (Applicable to youth with and without disabilities) and Building Caring Communities: The Contribution of People with Disabilities.
NEIGHBORHOOD BASED PERSONAL SUPPORTS PROGRAM was a collaborative demonstration project of the Great Lakes Center for Independent Living, Parent Participation Program and Wayne State University College of Education and Department of Community Medicine. The aim of the project was to foster community inclusion, independent living and gainful employment of largely minority adults with disabilities. While the program's immediate aim was inclusion for community living and employment other needs emerged, identified and addressed. Some parents of program participants had issues that impacted on their children: they included a range of physical and learning disabilities. In response, the program support strategy that was built primarily around person - centered planning was reoriented to family - centered planning to accommodate the needs of the entire family. The program strategy and the intensive and extensive support requirements were challenging for program staff and especially participants and their families who were desirous of relatively immediate outcomes. But through careful staff supports, advocacy, work with school staff and links to needed services, family members learned to overcome difficulties and challenges and over time to independently develop their own/additional supports and links to key neighborhood and community agencies. Overall program outcomes - both process and end outcomes - and challenges are outlined in the project's third and final year report. These outcomes included mobility, housing, education and employment.
Documented program insights, guides and reports include: