In Bouton, New Jersey, Linda Mauriero helps to prepare for a disabled young man after leaving school. They learn to set their career goals, create a resume, and build a relationship at work. Occasionally, they help find internships and receive support for work.
One student with multiple obstacles trained in school cafeteria is hired and works there in five years. Autism students are trained in local Walgreen, learns time management, and cooperate with customers. He is hired and is currently in charge of opening a store.
MAURIELLO is a big fan of the program. “My students really benefited,” she said.
However, hundreds of thousands of students with similar qualifications to receive similar support will not receive it. Federal governments and state governments spend about $ 5 billion in such services each year, but they do not even know that most parents and some school officials have programs.
In 2023, New Jersey had the lowest ratio (about 2 %) of the target students in Japan, according to the hekinger report analysis of government data.
The New Jersey program has been suffering for 10 years. And the distributed school governance system has hindered efforts to ensure services in schools.
The interview with dozens of supporters, educators, and parents draws a confused bureaucratic maze.
New Jersey officials have acknowledged the problem.
Charil Yabra, the assistant director of the Ministry of Labor in New Jersey and the provisional director of the vocational rehabilitation department in the state, states: “No one wants to be the best secret.”
Only 40 % of people with disabilities aged 16 to 64 are hired nationwide, but most experts can do work. Congress created a school era 10 years ago and collected money in the state.
However, in the recent years when national data is available in 2023, only 295,000 students received some of the estimated 3.1 million services. Last year's New Jersey states were 1,370 out of more than 80,000 or more eligible students. New York is not so successful. We provide services to about 5 % of qualified students.
When the vocational training program reaches a student with disabilities, the supporters are often inadequate, and the state says they have little accountability for their shortcomings.
According to Maureen McGaia Crez, a co -director of the George Wasington University Rehabilitation Center,: Counseling research and education. “I was hopeful. If I entered early, there will be some issues later.”
The US Ministry of Education officials acknowledge that so -called pre -employment transition services must be used by all students with disabilities, but the law is noticed that all of them are not obliged to access services. I am doing it. Not all students choose to receive them, and some may have gained necessary help from the school, Dante Q.
In New Jersey, state governments usually provide such training using external contractors (mostly non -profit organizations and universities). This training spent $ 14.6 million on the federal and state funds. This is last year when complete data is available.
But many parents do not know what their children are qualified and how they get it.
Bridget Brace's son worked well in his practical work in his high school in Burlington, New Jersey, but his obstacles made it difficult to read and struggled with textbook -based examinations.
Worrying about his future, Brace tried to get him to help him a career before his graduation. She saw a Facebook post about the state -of -the -art vocational rehabilitation agency. But she said that the counselor said she was not qualified until her son was 18 -it wasn't true.
He graduated last spring and found a job as a towing driver. However, the company demanded that all employees regularly call for an emergency overnight. He was afraid of missing the phone due to his anxiety disorder, so he had to stop sleeping for a few consecutive nights.
The pre -employment training that he might have received in high school may have taught him how to demand his accommodation or explore his work that suits his abilities and interests. But he has never received it. His mother did not know that there was a program like most of the New Jersey. She has now applied for a social security benefit for him, but he didn't.
“He's embarrassing,” she said. “My heart is broken for children. He wants to work, he wants to do good things. I hope he can get help while he is still in high school.”
MaureeN Piccoli Kerne, who started a migration program at a high school in Ridgefield, New Jersey, says counseling is important before employment.
“It's important because they know what they want to do,” she said. “They know what their strengths are. They know how to find accommodation at work.”
She recently worked with a young woman who loves the library. Her developmental disorder hindered her from going to a traditional university, but she took a course online to become a librarian assistant online and worked at a Long Island public library.
“I was very excited about the course,” Khan said. “She has a job she loves, she is productive, and that can happen when you work with young people quickly.”
For more than 30 years, the Federal Education Law has demanded schools to support the plans of students with disabilities due to the transition from high school. However, in many cases, there is a gap between what schools can be provided and the types of training and counseling that students need. That should be useful for pre -employment services.
Prior to 2014, the vocational rehabilitation institution in the state worked mainly with adults. It changed when Congress instructed an institution to provide an employment service to all the disabled students, and started early from the age of 14.
Most New Jersey students cannot have options.
Local teachers say that it is difficult to reach the overloaded states of duties training counselors, which will delay parents and students waiting for services. Some counselors say it is difficult to contact school staff. He says that some local schools have already provided everything they need.
Some New Jersey schools have established a good relationship with a state counselor who helps students find the experience of court's work. In addition, some schools provide high -quality transition services without the help of a vocational rehabilitation organization in a state. However, most of the time, the rose system is broken.
Ten years after the federal program was introduced, “Everyone is still struggling,” said Gwen Orlowski, an executive director in New Jersey, a disabled right. “Functional failure.”
The law obliged the occupational rehabilitation agency to spend at least 15 % of the federal government's employment services. However, many states have been asked to provide thousands of additions to provide services without increasing their budget.
Large gaps in access to services have little effect. Policy defenders blame the lack of surveillance by state and federal institutions. The Rehabilitation Service Bureau has been conducting an annual review of a vocational rehabilitation institution, but some states have been progressing for years without solving problems.
“We wanted a bigger surveillance,” said Julie Kristensen, an executive director of the association of the people who first supported employment. “It must not be the west of wild wild.”
Federal education officials have stated that existing monitoring mechanisms have led to improvements. In 2021, 23 states spent less than 15 % of the law obliged. The number decreased to 10 states in 2022, the latest year when data available.
I heard that Zoe Sharivan, a senior at Collinzwood High School, who had a down syndrome, said he wanted to go to a four -year housing college program, but he said that his mother Kimbrox was really at school. 。
“I want to go to college,” said Zoe, sitting in a cafe near her house. “I want to learn to be independent after taking classes.”
Last spring, Brooks had a lot of coincidence about a non -profit university preparation program for students with developmental disabilities. She saw it on my friend's Instagram post. She scrambled to submit an application to a program that she and Zoe found only through word of mouth and several hours of research.
“It's like a secret society,” said Brooks. “You don't know what you don't know. We've really missed it for years.”
This story was created by Hechinger Report, a non -profit independent news organization that covers education.
