ASPIRE
Achieving Success by Promoting
Readiness in Education and
Employment
A PROMISE Initiative of the US Department of Education
(#H418P130009)
PROMISE
Promoting Readiness of Minors in
Supplemental Security Income
PROMISE Initiative
The PROMISE Initiative:
Five-year federal project
Develop and implement model demonstration
projects (MDPs) to promote positive outcomes for
youth who receive SSI, and their families
Six projects throughout the country
Federal Partners
U.S. Department of Education (ED)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS)
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
Social Security Administration (SSA)
--------------------------------------------------------------ED administering funding for the PROMISE Initiatives
SSA administering a national evaluation of the
PROMISE programs
State Level Partners
Vocational Rehabilitation services under Title I of the
Rehabilitation Act;
Special Education and related services under Part B of the
IDEA;
Medicaid services under Title XIX of the Social Security Act
Workforce development services;
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families under the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act;
Developmental/intellectual disabilities services; and
Mental health services
PROMISE Study
Minimum sample size of 2,000 eligible youth
Youth will have a disability and receive SSI benefits
Youth will be between the ages of 14 and 16 at the
time services are initiated
Randomly assigned to treatment or control groups,
1000 each
Limited enrollment period
PROMISE Awards
Grant funding of $211 million from ED was awarded to
six projects throughout the U.S., to implement the
PROMISE initiative over a 5-year period
Projects awarded to:
California
Arkansas
Wisconsin
Maryland
New York
ASPIRE (six-state consortium)
Interventions
PROMISE
Benefits planning
Parent education and training
Paid employment prior to
leaving high school
Case management
ASPIRE
Financial education and
capability training
Self determination training
Community conversations
Goals of the
PROMISE Initiative
• Improve service provision and coordination
• Improve education attainment, employment outcomes
• Improve self-sufficiency and financial independence
Collaboration Challenges
A consortium of Arizona, Colorado, Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah
Urban, rural, frontier and tribal
42 allied agencies
49 tribes
Thousands of school districts
Innumerable community organizations
Fidelity across six states
Collaboration Communication
Communication – internal and external
•
•
•
•
•
•
Develop a communication plan and be flexible
Build informal relationships first and identify
process for formal relationships
Engage partners
Recognize individuality and the strengths each
person brings
Utilize web-based strategies
Newsletters, listserv, shared drives (wiggio.com)
Collaboration
Fidelity across six states
Strong communication
No dumb questions
Common training - tracking
Engagement at all levels of implementation
development
Formative evaluation team
Contracting – common scopes of work
Strategies to Collaborate
Coordinate
Collaborate
Partner
Identify partners
Make time, seek to understand, respect
Build and nurture relationships
Focus on the shared mission
Define common goals
Communicate
Carol Ruddell
ASPIRE Project Director
Utah State Office of Rehabilitation
(801) 571-2160
cruddell@utah.gov
www.aspirewest.org