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FEATURED WEB SITE: GETTING HIRED.COM

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This is a web site where people with disabilities gather, network, and find success in the workplace with employers. Job seekers can create an account for free. Employers, Service Providers, and Advocacy Organizations can also create accounts and network or partner.

The site works a bit like a social networking site but is designed to link job seekers, employers, service providers, and advocacy organizations. Users can find friends and associates, engage in a mentoring network, participate in forums, read and comment on blogs, upload articles, search network providers, and customize their own "My Careers" view. There are also resume builders, career assessments, video interview training, job recommendations, advice, and even a video profile section.

It might be worth checking out.

You can navigate the GettingHired.com web site in the framed view below without ever leaving the YTP Web Site.

To see past featured websites click on the following links:
DRIVE OF YOUR LIFE

Youth Transition News

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GRANT FUNDS AVAILABLE FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

I. Purpose of Program: The Investing in Innovation Fund, established under section 14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), provides funding to support (1) local educational agencies (LEAs), and (2) nonprofit organizations in partnership with (a) one or more LEAs or (b) a consortium of schools. The purpose of this program is to provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on improving student achievement or student growth (as defined in this notice), closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates.

II. Award Information

YTP Video

This VIDEO provides a historical backdrop to YTP as it has evolved to serving thousands of young adults with disabilities in Oregon from 1990 to the present. It shows how the Youth Transition Program (YTP) started as a model partnership between Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Services (OVRS), the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), a team from the University of Oregon contracted to provide training and technical assistance, and local school districts serving youth with disabilities statewide.


You will be able to hear and see the viewpoints of students, teachers, administrators, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors, parents, and employers in this 22 minute presentation.

Find State-wide YTP Resources Quickly

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Searching for YTP resources across the State is easy with the YTP MAP. Each YTP location includes the number of students served by that program and the key contacts (transition specialists and OVRS branch office locations and phone numbers). To access the map click HERE

About YTP

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The Youth Transition Program (YTP) is a comprehensive transition program for youth with disabilities operated collaboratively by the office of Oregon Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (OVRS), the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), the University of Oregon (U of O), and local school districts statewide in Oregon. The purpose of the program is to prepare youth with disabilities for employment or career related post secondary education or training.

YTP was initially developed in seven high schools in 1990 under the auspices of a federal grant. The program currently operates in approximately 120 high schools in Oregon and is funded through a combination of state and local funds from participating education and rehabilitation agencies. OVRS contracts with a team from the U of O to provide training and technical assistance to school and rehabilitation personnel statewide.

JUSTIN'S DETERMINATION PAYS OFF, LANDING HIM A SPOT AS ONE OF YTP'S OUTSTANDING STUDENTS!

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Like most 20 year old young men, Justin (left) enjoys the excitement of going fast, whether it be on his bicycle or his quad on the Oregon Dunes. Justin also enjoys working on autos and trucks, and taking care of horses on his small ranch, just east of Springfield. By all standards Justin is a mans’ man!

What sets Justin apart from other young men is his determination to make a life and a living doing the things he loves to do. This goal may seem common to most of us until you consider that Justin has been in 21 foster homes in his lifetime. Foster care for Justin has been a mobile way of life until he met his current foster parents, the Fowlers. The Fowlers discovered that by directing Justin’s energy in a direction of his special interest that his focus narrows and lets him be successful in all tasks related to his “hands on” abilities.

With the support of his case manager and transition specialist in Springfield School District’s Community Transition Program, Justin has spent several years honing his skills and discovering his career interests through volunteering at several local businesses and non-profits in his community.

ASPERGERS, AUTISM AND PARENTING

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Here’s a four-minute animation from StoryCorps (click on the "read more" below to get to the video) with a touching conversation between 12-year-old Joshua Littman and his mother, Sarah. Joshua has Asperger’s syndrome, which is related to autism. His mother describes it as “born without social genes.” We get a sense of Joshua’s unique perspective and perceptiveness by the questions he asks his mother, including this weighty one:

Joshua: Did I turn out to be the son you wanted when I was born? Did I meet your expectations, and …

Sarah: You’ve exceeded my expectations, sweetie. Because — sure you have these fantasies about what your child’s gonna be like — but you have made me grow so much as a parent, because you made me think …

Joshua: Well I was the one who made you a parent.

YTP Services

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The YTP provides year-round services to youth typically during the last two years of high school and continuing into the early transition years after leaving high school. All students in the program receive a comprehensive pattern of service designed to address a broad array of transition needs including:

1. Individualized planning, focused on post school goals and self determination, and help to coordinate school plans with relevant community agencies;


2. Instruction in academic, vocational, independent living, and personal social skills and help to stay in and complete high school;


3. Career development services including goal setting, career exploration, job search skills, and self advocacy;


4. Emphasis on paid employment such as connections with local employers, development of school-based businesses, on the job assessment and training;


5. Support services such as individualized mentoring and support or referrals for additional specific interventions;

News from OVRS

I have attached the National Council on Disabilities - October 2008 - report on "The Rehabilitation Act: Outcomes for Transition-Aged Youth". I have read through it and highlighted a number of areas you might find interesting. The essence of the report is that there needs to be more research to determine the effectiveness of the collaborative process between VR, education, including higher education, and community partners.

News from ODE

The recent YTP Regional Trainings in Pendleton, Portland, Salem, Coos Bay, and Lane County had a 90 minute session that focused on materials I provided regarding the Oregon Diploma, Oregon's new Modified Diploma, Oregon's new Extended Diploma, and the Alternative Certificate. The Power Point Presentation I provided is attached below.

News From U of O

Youth with disabilities face many barriers in making the transition from high school to stable long term employment. This article used case study methodology to examine the career development process and post school employment outcomes for a sample of individuals with disabilities who were working in living wage occupations seven to ten years after exiting high school.