Project RENEW
Manchester, New Hampshire
Contact
JoAnne M. Malloy
Project Coordinator
UNH/Institute on Disability/UAP
250 Commercial Street, Suite 407
Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: 603-628-7375
Email: jmmalloy@aol.com
Mission
The mission of Project RENEW is to assist youth and young adults with emotional challenges between the ages of 15-22 to define their lives and career goals; obtain meaningful employment; advance their education and career opportunities; and become competent, contributing members of their communities. The project staff will provide these services using the values of self-determination, naturally supported employment, community inclusion, unconditional care, and the strengths-based perspective.
Organization
Organization Type: University
Geographical Area: Urban area
Primary Setting: Community college
Funding: External funding source - Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) - Project # H235550043
Consumers
Target Population: Youth who have dropped out of school with disabilities; Secondary education students with disabilities; Other youth - Adjudicated and At-risk of dropping out
Disability Areas: Severe emotional disturbance/emotional disability/behavior disorder
NTA Framework Categories
Description
Project RENEW (Rehabilitation, Empowerment, Natural Supports, Education and Work), is a model demonstration transition project for youth and young adults (ages 16-22) with severe emotional disturbance (SED) or serious mental illness (SMI). Data show that young people with SED drop out of high school at particularly high rates, (60% in New Hampshire-1996 data), have very low employment rates after leaving high school (40% are unemployed one year after leaving high school), and have extremely low rates of post-secondary education participation (less than 10% nationally). Project RENEW is designed to develop and evaluated innovative practices to increase employment and school completion rates for these young people.
Located at the Community Technical College in Manchester, New Hampshire, the project model is designed around four goals, four principles, and seven strategies.
The four goals include high school completion, competitive employment, post secondary participation, and positive community inclusion.
The four principles included self-determination, competency-based service, unconditional care, and natural supports and community inclusion.
The seven strategies include personal futures planning, flexible education services, naturally supported employment, interagency collaboration, mentoring, social skill building, and flexible funds. Personal futures planning sets the tone and direction for the partnership between the young person and the staff. Flexible education services focuses on helping participants finish school by linking school/work/and life experiences. Naturally supported employment focuses on developing clear occupational objectives which match the person’s area of interest and takes into account support needs; seeks out employers who provide good supervision and support to all their employees; identifies and supports an on-the-job mentor for the individual; and provides ongoing consultation and support to the employer. In addition, the staff assists the young people to develop jobs in the most typical way by reaching out to family, neighbors, and friends. Interagency collaboration focuses on developing interagency collaboration on two levels; first, teams are built around each youth depending on need and circumstance; and, second, an Interagency Coordinating Council meets monthly and is comprised of supervisory-level staff from many of the involved agencies. Mentoring focuses on using mentors in the career development and education context as a mechanism to build natural support at work and in other community settings. Social Skill Building focuses on the values and services employed by Project RENEW staff emphasize participation in "the real work," with a support safety net provided by the Project staff. Flexible funds focuses on influencing the way services are provided to youth to develop resources and services based on the young person’s individualized plan, instead of putting the youth into a pre-packaged, pre-determined program.
Evidence of Success