Narrative: d. 2. D.

ARS counselors will provide information to schools about VR services, meet with special education teachers during the school year, and ensure schools have appropriate forms and information for students to apply for services. ARS will work with schools to assist the student in identifying, selecting, and pursuing appropriate career objectives.

In addition, ARS has a Transition Coordinator that will assist with managing transition services as an agency, and will also ensure services are appropriate and efficient for the clients, schools, and partnerships. Additionally, the Transition Coordinator will work directly with the schools to provide education on section 511of the Rehabilitation Act. Furthermore, the agency will be providing detailed information about pre-employment transition services for students with IEP and 504 plans. The Agency will work directly with the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT), Intensive Technical Assistance Partnerships. NTACT may provide staff time for phone, email, web-based, on-line, and on-site training and consultation. Arkansas’s implementation team will participate in NTACT’s sponsored capacity building activities (i.e., Capacity Building Institute and related regional or national meetings) by sending a team representing at least the SEA and State VR Agency, as well as stakeholders such as parent centers or local agencies to these events. The state implementation team will support personnel development opportunities for educators and service providers across Arkansas annually, structured on the mode of convening interdisciplinary teams from local communities for personnel development, data review, problem solving, and facilitated strategic planning. The state implementation team will explore the use of NTACT’s data analysis and planning tools (i.e., transitionprogramtool.org, STEPSS) for use in this process. The Transition Employment Project (TEP) is designed to give high school students the skills, knowledge, and attitude necessary to successfully transition to adult life through engaging in a variety of instructional assessments and training activities. Through TEP students participated in a five-week project the previous year to prepare them for paid work experiences in the summer of 2016. During the project they completed assessments and had opportunities to participate in on the job training site and receive their Career Readiness Certificate (CRC). Project SEARCH assists with adult VR services, and transition. A new high school model is planned for the Hot Springs area. The Fayetteville site was recognized as 1 of 53 sites recognized for 80 - 90% competitive integrated employment outcomes. The Promise Grant is the 32.5 million dollar five-year research grant designed to promote the readiness of minors on SSI (Supplemental Security Income) for success beyond high school. Arkansas is one of five single states and one collaborative group of states to be awarded this grant. Currently, 1,367 AR Promise youth have been recruited as of 8/17/15, and 164 employers provided work experiences from 25 counties. The goal for 2016 is 550 employer provided work experiences.