California Bridges to Youth Self-Sufficiency

1
California Bridges to Youth Self-Sufficiency

• An Overview

2
Mission Statement

• Educating youth and their families to use
  services and supports as a bridge to greater
  self-sufficiency.

3
Overview

• California's Bridges to Youth Self-Sufficiency
  is an exciting new program sponsored by the
  Social Security Administration, the California
  Department of Rehabilitation, and seven
  California school districts.  This program is
  dedicated to informing and motivating families
  and young people with disabilities about work and
  current work incentives, to assisting them with
  the transitions to work, and to helping them
  maximize their economic independence and achieve
  greater self-sufficiency.

4
SSA National Project Goals

• ? Improve employment and educational outcomes of
  transition aged youth (14-25) who are recipients
  of public benefits or at risk of becoming
  recipients.
• ? Ensure customer satisfaction and informed
  choice in pursuit of individual employment goals.
• ? Collaborate and build interagency partnerships
  with youth transition systems in order to
  integrate services and blend resources.
• ? Compile data to evaluate the effectiveness of
  the project strategies.

5
SSA National Project Objectives

1. Increase the self-sufficiency of transition aged
   youth with disabilities by decreasing their
   dependence on public benefits and,
2. Conduct a research and evaluation study on this
   population to inform policy decisions.

6
Bridges Project Outcomes

• This project will track five categories of
  outcomes to gauge the success of interventions
  
• Employment Outcomes (e.g., work history, part or
  full-time employment)
• Educational Outcomes (e.g., high school and
  postsecondary completion)
• Level of Independence (e.g.,reduced benefits due
  to earnings)
• Service Participation (e.g., participation in all
  services to determine effectiveness
• Quality of Life Indicators (e.g., individual and
  family satisfaction)

7
Project Sites

• Capistrano/Saddleback Valley Unified School
  District Consortium
• Irvine/Newport-Mesa Unified School District
  Consortium
• Riverside County Office of Education
• Vallejo City Unified School District
• Whittier Union High School District

8
Outreach and Recruitment

• Outreach and Recruitment of Students in Special
  Education and/or with Section 504
• Contacts with special educators, school nurses
  and counselors, foster youth providers, youth in
  the juvenile justice system, teen mothers and
  others. Each sites goal will be to serve a
  minimum of 50 participants at any one time,
  consisting of a range of participant ages.
• Early Intervention
• Contact students with disabilities receiving SSA
  benefits in middle school (ages 13-14).

9
Core Services

• Workability I
• Comprehensive pre-employment preparation, paid
  and unpaid employment placement, and follow up.
• Transition Partnership Program (TPP)
• Community based instruction, vocational and
  basic skills assessment, tutoring, vocational and
  work-site training, specific job skills training,
  pre-employment preparation, work-site evaluation,
  work experience, career/job development, job
  placement, job coaching, job retention and follow
  up services.

10
Enhanced Services

• Coordination and Integration of Services Case
  Management
• The students transition services will be
  supported by an interagency team that will
  include the student, family, project Service
  Coordinator and representatives of appropriate
  adult agencies.
• Benefits Planning
• The sites Benefits Coordinator positions will
  provide benefits and financial planning to each
  enrolled participant.

11
Enhanced Services

• Healthcare Services
• Youth and their parents will be counseled by the
  projects Benefits Coordinator and school health
  care professionals on the availability and access
  of Medicaid and Healthy Start services.
• Ongoing Employment Support and Follow Along
  Services
• The Service Coordinator and State Vocational
  Rehabilitation Counselor (as appropriate) will
  coordinate ongoing employment support and
  counseling.