Ken Anderson Alliance
6940 Plainfield Road
Cincinnati, OH 45236
Transition Age ENGAGE Program
Grant Application:
KAA is creating the new Transition Age ENGAGE program to serve young adults, ages 18 to 21, with disabilities. Although students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) are legally able to remain in school until the age of 22, for many reasons the majority do not. The Ken Anderson Alliance office receives numerous calls and emails from parents looking for services for their 18 to 21-year-old young adults, but the ENGAGE program currently only serves those 22 and up. Even the few individuals who are currently employed in the community are looking for social experiences and help in learning life skills.
The new Transition Age ENGAGE program will add specific events where vital life skills will be taught and practiced in small group social settings. KAA will be able to serve more individuals in a different way to include education, instruction of life skills and development of workplace skills.
Goals/objectives:
The Transition Age ENGAGE program addresses the two major needs of the transition age, developmentally disabled young adult: social interaction and life skills training.
Through this program, KAA will measure improvement in these areas. Our goal is that 90% of the participants show increased life skills through education and practice and that 90% will show an increase in social activity. The goal of this program is to ultimately increase connectedness to the community and quality of life through a significant improvement in life skills. This will prepare these young adults for successful independent living, employment and contributing to the greater community.
Grant Evaluation Report:
Even though, due to a hiring delay, the program was started later than anticipated, it has been well received. The evaluation clearly shows this. The factor we didn't anticipate was the difficulty in getting the information about the program to those young adults who had already accepted their diplomas and were finished with the educational system. Because of this, those who were involved in the program during these first 9 months were already receiving life skills training through their school program. However as this program continues and we reach a broader group, more life skills sessions will be added.
Results:
Our evaluation has shown that the program is successful. We have found the following:
Opportunity to participate in challenging and interesting activities increased from 49% to 71%
Interaction with the community increased from 66% to 86%
Satisfaction with community interaction increased from 33% to 57%
Happiness with the frequency of this interaction increased from 50% to 72%
Participation in the greater community increased from 33% to 71%
Satisfaction with how often the participant could be with friends increased from 33% to 43%
Website:
http://www.kenandersonalliance.org Amount: $25000
Date: February 2022
