Transition Assistance

MassMATCH is funding programs to help people with disabilities live in their communities and/or pursue vocational and educational goals with the help of AT and AT services. The focus is on successful life transitions; young people with disabilities need access to AT information to help make the move from school to community living, and from school to work or post secondary education. Adults and elders with disabilities need information on how AT and AT services can help them remain in their communities or move from long term care facilities to community living.

For 2006, MassMATCH funded 3 community summer camp programs that engaged young people (ages 14-22) with learning about AT for both summer camp activities as well as life skills/transition assistance. The 3 programs were:

Stavros’s Solutions Under the Sun, a program designed to serve up to 10 young people over 5 Fridays with accessible field trips (hiking, rowing, biking, fishing, and kayaking) that combined AT for outdoors skills with AT life transitions topics such as obtaining housing, employment goals, and transportation. 5-7 young people attended each week.
The Northeast Independent Living Program, Inc’s TeenFest, a summer program serving 15 young people over 3 weeks that incorporated an AT transitions agenda. Field trip locations included the Easter Seals AT Demonstration Loan Regional Center, Verizon’s Communication Center for Customer’s with Disabilities, DragonFly Art, the Museum of Science, and Northern Essex Community College.
Partner’s for Youth with Disabilities, Inc.-Boston’s summer program, a 4 day program for 8-10 young people at the UMass Boston Adaptive Computer Lab to use AT for computer access, learn about AT funding and transition assistance programs, and learn how to access and take leadership with an online peer mentor community (Partner’s Online). The program also incorporated a field trip to an accessible One Stop Career Center in Boston.

For 2007-2008, MassMATCH is funding TACLE—Transition Assistance to Community Living Environment. The initiative partners with Easter Seals Massachusetts to help residents of long term care facilities transition successfully to community living. Easter Seals, in collaboration with the Metro West Center for Independent Living, will research, develop, and pilot a simple-to-use AT “assessment tool” for use by case managers, social workers, healthcare providers, and other related professionals. This tool will help determine an individual’s needs for AT and AT services and create an effective protocol for making AT referrals. The tool will be made available to the wide range of professionals through MassMATCH regional expos and other appropriate forums. The goal is to lay a foundation for system-wide access to AT where it is needed the most, helping to bring adults with disabilities and elders home.