This brief shares stories about how three students with disabilities used networking and mentoring to become interested in or learn more about a line of work, or even to find jobs. The students represented different high school grade levels and had a wide range of disabilities including learning, cognitive, physical or health-related, sensory,…

The director of a California program that places disabled youth into private sector jobs discusses the features of the program, approaches for other areas in developing similar projects, and cites the program's cost and employment benefits. (CL)

Through an examination of the transition process used by a representative sample of successfully employed handicapped individuals in Florida, specific transition strategies and the degree to which they were used were identified. Fifty successfully employed handicapped individuals participated. The high school experience was cited as essential in…

The Special Education Vocational Education Program (SEVEP) is a program implemented by the Tucson Unified School District to bring area high school students with special needs together with cooperating employers. Eligible students are identified and pre-assessed regarding individual aptitudes, interests and needs. General instruction may include…

A collaborative study surveyed cooperative vocational education teachers (N=59) and secondary special education teachers (N=16) from metropolitan, urban, and rural school districts in Washington State regarding (1) the number of physically or mentally disabled youth who are enrolled in and placed on jobs from cooperative education classes; (2)…

The "Bridges...From School to Work" project, funded at five sites by the Marriott Corporation, develops competitively paid internships for students with disabilities in their final year of high school. Of 762 students accepted by the program, 86% received internship placements, 82% completed their internships, and 75% were offered…

Describes a job-specific career education program to foster high school completion by students with and without disabilities. The program involved a school/business partnership and student/school contracts (which guaranteed the student a part-time job while in school and a full-time job upon successful program completion and graduation). Students'…

This issue presents nine articles which address identifying, pursuing, and obtaining postsecondary training and employment by youth with disabilities. It discusses how families and professionals can help young people develop important self-determination and self-advocacy skills. It also introduces adult service systems to aid in obtaining…

This project, conducted under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, Public Law 98-24, provided outreach to 49 Charles City County (Virginia) economically and educationally disadvantaged handicapped youth, aged 16 through 21. Various services were provided to facilitate their entrance into vocational education, employment, or other…

The Career Assessment and Placement Center is a school-to-adult-life transition program which provides vocational and independent living services to individuals with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. A set of five manuals was prepared to assist in developing services similar to those provided by the Center. The "Operations"…

This proceedings document provides the texts of 13 presentations given at a 2-day conference in 1991 which focused on policies, materials, programs, and activities being implemented in Alabama to foster the successful transition of youth with disabilities to adult life. Two papers address the national scene: "Transition: Old Wine in New…

This proceedings document provides the texts of 12 presentations given at a 2-day conference in 1992 which focused on policies, materials, programs, and activities being implemented in Alabama to foster the successful transition of youth with disabilities to adult life. Two papers address the national scene: "Transition Services Requirement:…

This report describes activities of Project Work, a federally funded program to provide vocational preparation skills and transition services for high school students with disabilities. The program served 150 students at a large urban high school in San Diego (California). Three major objectives were accomplished: (1) development of an…

The Employment Retention Program is a supported employment program involved in job placement and intensive worksite training of graduating handicapped youth, emphasizing retention strategies that transfer supervision to nonhandicapped co-workers and that promote social interactions between handicapped employees and co-workers. At followup, 60…

The Lee College (Baytown, Texas) Rural Health Occupations Model Project was designed to provide health occupations education tailored to disadvantaged, disabled, and/or limited-English-proficient high school students and adults and thereby alleviate the shortage of nurses and health care technicians in two rural Texas counties. A tech prep program…