Autism After 21 - SOAR Program

1. Problem we are solving - unemployment with young adults on the autism spectrum

2. Residential program based on college campuses focusing on pre-employment skills, career exploration, executive function, social skills and independent living. Take this program nationwide to college campuses.

3. Gaining employment can change the life of someone on the autism spectrum.  Currently a life living below the poverty level is what government benefits can provide.  As the parent of an adult with autism, having your child as independent as possible not only changes their life but the entire families.  Communities benefit in the long run having employees contributing to their own well being to the fullest of their ability.

The numbers of young adults on the autism spectrum leaving school districts will continue to increase for decades to come.  While schools have risen to the challenge of educating our special needs students, they often leave school with low expectations and not prepared for the work force.  The standard education model followed by post-secondary opportunities does not fit the majority of adults with autism.  Some numbers:

1.  66% of young adults with autism who never worked or continued education after high school 

2. 20 somethings with autism have an employment rate of 58% compared with 74% of peers with intellectual disabilities, 95% with learning disabilities and 91% with speech impairment

3. At the end of high school the "services cliff" drops supports and families are left with a hodgepodge of public services that are difficult to access.

4. In the county where Autism After 21's SOAR program is based the local school district has 1:58 students affected by autism.  The district served over 180,000 students during the 2019-20 school year.  Districts nationwide are dealing with increased numbers of special education students that will require services when they leave school district programs.

The solution to setting young adults with autism on the path to independence is to give them a chance to live it.  Moving to a college campus, albeit a short term experience for most, it gives an opportunity to change attitudes about what the future can bring.  Many students and parents have left school systems with low expectations and I feel one of the most important things we do is open minds to what is possible. Working with our students and partners to determine abilities and interests that can lead to a career path will place these very special students out into communities with productive lives. I cannot understate the young lives being affected by lack of opportunity to enter the workplace.  Many current work programs are not designed to serve students with autism.  

Our SOAR students include high school students beginning at age 16 and serve young adults up to age 25.  We are targeting students before and during the transition from school district to post-secondary, vocational training or employment.  Our students come from all races, genders and levels of disability.  To understand the future needs of our students we offer residential programming, often the first time away from home.  Once settled in a dorm on a college campus students meet with case managers to begin developing a path to independence.  Part of the SOAR program includes administering a Work Readiness Inventory, Holland Code Quiz and a Career Scope and post-secondary counseling to determine abilities and path ways forward.  The program case managers follow up with students once they leave the program, we are working to implement peer mentors moving forward. Students and families receive a professional portfolio containing a  comprehensive skills report, assessments administered, resume and elevator pitch developed during their stay.  With these tools, case manager support and a peer mentor we work to help students gain employment, enter college or continue education needed to be independent and enter the workforce. 

Enabling learners to make informed choices about pathways that will work for them is how we prepare our students to enter the workforce.  I have mentioned that one of the most important things we do is open students and parents minds to possibilities of pathways forward.  We accomplish this using Universal Design for Learning Guidelines:

1. Engagement: recruiting interest, self-regulation, effort and persistence

2. Representation: options for comprehension, perception

3. Action & Expression: executive function, communication, physical action

Goal being learners who are:

• Purposeful & Motivated
• Resourceful & Knowledgeable
• Strategic & Goal Directed

These learners are then ready to work!

full-time staff: 1

part-time staff: 3

contractors: 14

We are based in a very diverse area and our staff and students reflect this.  Staff hiring is based on qualifications and diversity that will serve our student population the best.  We serve special needs students from all walks of life and our staff reflects this as well.  Our most important staff are special needs students who have been through our SOAR program then serve as staff for future groups. Hiring practices are based about qualifications followed by diversity in gender, race and disability as a priority.

SOAR is different, students are away from home, all enabling from parents is stripped away.  For the first time many students learn the responsibility of decision making on their own.  Our competitors:

1.  School districts - they do not offer residential programming and have heavy state requirements that fill students high school years.  These curriculums do not include job readiness, career exploration and independent living.

2.  Post-secondary institutions - about 50,000 Americans with autism enter adulthood year and about one third go to college.  Studies have found fewer than 20% graduate and many never live on campus.

SOAR gives a window into independence, many students attend more than one summer to help gain confidence and solidify skills.  Sequential skills training has proven to most effective when students get more than one exposure to learning new skills and the ability to learn the skills improve with maturity of the student.

Many of our students struggle with working memory, inhibition and activation, the three building blocks of executive function. SOAR employs what is not a simple technology,  iPad's in the classroom. This helps remove the difficult task of writing, something that many of our students struggle with, along with ability to offer instruction using Universal Design for Learning strategies. Universal Design guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences. Using this technology for assessments and class assignments helps remove extraneous parts of the cognitive task load and let's the students focus on the learning.

The use of IPads has enabled every student to leave with a portfolio of their assessments, evaluation by a case manager, resume and elevator pitch both printed and in electronic form for future use.  Prior to using the common technology of an iPad, many of these tasks were hand written and incomplete by many students. It has improved the executive function level of all students, even students with reading and language deficits, curriculum can be presented at their level and pace. 

SOAR has had impact in ways that can be hard to describe.  I try and explain to parents how when the students are dropped off on Monday by Wednesday they are different people.  The simple act of instilling confidence, giving responsibility for their lives and offering a glimpse into a future changes everything.  The basics of living away from parental supports:

Executive Function = following a schedule, taking what you need for the day from the dorm, not forgetting your dorm key, having to recognize your working memory capacity

Job Readiness Skills = writing a resume, giving ideas how to build that resume, learn an elevator pitch, practice that pitch in front of the class, do a mock job interview

Career Exploration = Look at your skills following your assessments and find a career that excites the student in an area of interest.  One they can attain with their skill level.

Social Skills = Most adults with autism lose jobs due to social skills, misreading the work place.  We try and teach school life and work life are different places.

Education = Learning your rights under IDEA, how to ask for accommodations in the work place, are you ready to disclose your disability, being as prepared as possible to enter the workforce. 

Independent Living = living away from home, having to develop tolerance for others, learning healthy eating habits, appropriate self care and hygiene habits.

Community Based Instruction = social time in the community, chance to observe jobs of all levels, learn public transportation, how to manage money and a budget, safety by learning your community.

SOAR exposes students to all of this with residential counselors, college peers, classroom instructors and case managers.  Our team is engaged every student on every level during their time with us. Anticipated outcomes are:

• Live with a Growth Mindset
• Career Assessments available as roadmap
• Be able to gauge strengths and weaknesses
• Learn Inhibition Strategies
• Activation Strategies, students understanding of themselves to motivate progress

The impact of our programs can be replicated nationwide, worldwide with the use of existing university systems and in the United States the nationwide vocational rehabilitation system can be the base of sustainable funding.  Goals for expansion are to recognize the challenges of young adults on the autism spectrum, how they differ from other disabled populations and what their abilities can bring to communities world wide given the right resources. These goals are achieved with a cutting edge curriculum providing life experience that most students have never experienced.  The residential portion of the program is the game changer for the majority of students, this time is often the first time in their lives decision making is the students and not enabled by parents or educators.

Short term goal: (12 months)

1.  Back on track on 2021 with expansion to three new university campuses in the State of Florida.  We plan to serve 200 students in 2021 in our residential programs.
2. Expand virtual offerings to include: pre-employment training, self-determination and peer mentoring as defined by the State of Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

Long term goal: (2 - 3 years and beyond)

1. Expand to universities in neighboring southern states
2. Explore obtaining vendor status with vocational rehabilitation in those states
3.  Raise grant dollars and increase program revenue through new campus SOAR programs in Florida and additional virtual services to help fund expansion beyond Florida

Financial:  funding for staff to expand outside of Florida

Technical:  Each state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation can function in a different way, so processes that work in Florida may be different elsewhere.  Need to begin contacts outside of Florida in fall of 2021. This is a learning opportunity for Autism After 21 to grow outside Florida and be working in other states.

Legal:  If we move to outside of Florida, how is that legally done so the program, curriculum etc. are protected.

Market Barriers:  Learn what services other states offer that mirror or that could be collaborative efforts with Autism After 21

Financial:  The expansion within Florida will generate some funds that can be used to go beyond our state border, consider increased grant writing and possible collaborations that could fund part of the expansion outside Florida. 

Technical:  Work on making contacts with Division of Vocational Rehabilitation departments outside of the State of Florida.  Will plan to attend some national VR conferences to initiate contacts, use my relationship with VR in Florida to make connections in other states.

Marketing/Media:  Use social media for an organic way to get Autism After 21's message spread within the special needs community of students and parents.  We are currently working with consultants on a new website and social media campaign development to roll out at the end of 2020.

Legal:  Need legal counsel to discuss the proprietary concerns of expansion, want to keep the mission solid so every student gets that same great experience no matter where they are.

We would like to get more detailed feedback from parents and students after they leave the SOAR program.  Follow up survey results have had a low response rate.  Ideally feedback collected at 30 day, 3 month and 6 month intervals would be best to track students progress in implementing strategies. Our current method of surveying students when the move in and when the program is over doesn't give a longer term view of students' accomplishments and set back after they leave the program. We are looking for new methods to improve this follow up.  Currently case managers follow up with students and parents both with electronic survey and phone calls with mixed results.

The Autism After 21 team that has developed the SOAR program brings a wide variety of ages and experience.  The founder Michelle Rubin brings her experience as a parent of a 28 year old on the autism spectrum.  She manages running the non-profit and the business of running the programs.  She has built the SOAR program into a revenue producing product that the non-profit uses to fund itself.  In short, we are a social enterprise that is a business.  Program service revenue makes sense to us rather than traditional fund raising.  We do grant writing when we find a grant program that fits our programs. Our case managers and instructors all come with masters degrees in special education, they include a licensed clinical social worker and a certified mental health counselor.  All have experience in the classroom with the population we serve.  Most importantly we all share the mission of 'Life Skills for Independent Living'. An aspect of our hiring is that we hire college students interested in working with special populations to work as residential counselors. Many of these students have changed course to pursue careers in working with special needs students. Our disability hiring program gives alumni of the SOAR program a job opportunity to work side by side in an integrated work model.  Many of these college students we hire are minorities, students of color and those with disabilities that are first generation college students.  I take great pride in knowing that young people are passionate about working with special populations, my sons success can be traced to amazing professionals who were willing to make this journey with my family.

1. State of Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation - The department provides an accreditation for our curriculum, our instructional staff and is a referral source for students.  If students are qualified to receive services, vocational rehabilitation pays for their tuition costs
2. CareerSource Palm Beach Disability Unit - CareerSource provides training to our students on how to access their services.  The training consists of classroom education on what CareerSource does, a tour of their facility, instruction on how to register with Employ Florida, meet the disability resource team and what ongoing services they provide.  All of their services are free of charge.  One of the CareerSource professionals is also certified in disability benefits, this service is also offered to our students and families so they have an understanding of working while receiving federal benefits.
3. Private Foundations - donate scholarship funds for students not eligible for vocational rehabilitation services.
4. Care Points, LLC - this local consultant provides assessments, work evaluations for students that detail areas of ability and interest.  This information is shared with students, families and vocational rehabilitation counselors.
5. University host campuses - as the home base for the SOAR program, campuses provide us with not only contracted services but often work with us on our mission.  Departments provide campus tours, university police work with us on dialogue on how to safely interact with law enforcement, fitness instructors work to develop healthy habits for our students and the dining halls are a place of natural social interaction.

The Autism After 21 model:

1. Beneficiaries, who we serve - Autism After 21 was formed to benefit students who are transitioning from school to what's next regardless of their ability to pay.  We encourage disability populations to attend our programs from underserved areas of Florida where less services are available.
2. Customer Value - The services of Autism After 21 impact society as a whole.  Every young adult with autism who can become employed and independent ultimately save millions in public care over a lifetime.  This burden being lifted from aging parents is priceless.
3. Social Impact - Being a non-profit that generates revenue and opportunity to the disabled population helps communities open hearts and minds, as the autism population ages this is significant.  Communities have spent 20 years learning about children with autism, now we are shifting as they become adults. These adults will be part of every community.
4. Profits - Net proceeds from program revenue is reinvested in expansion of services to other areas of Florida and eventually other states.

Autism After 21 and the SOAR program operate as a non-profit that provides social programming to the students we serve.  This embedded model is currently sustainable with grant writing and funding from The State of Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.  The revenues from program services covers the expenses of the program and one employee salary.  The remainder of the staff are part time and summer contractors, these costs are also covered by program revenue. With our planned expansion in 2021, two new full time staff members will be joining the team in March 2021.  Central to our mission is providing much needed services to transitioning young adults that also sustains the costs of the non-profit.  We have gained certification from The State of Florida to offer new virtual services and will begin implementing those in January 2021. This will increase our revenues with limited outlay of new expenses.  

We have raised funds to support the organization in the form of grants and generating revenue from programs.

Grants:

1. Impact 100 Palm Beach County - $100,000 April 2019, these funds were used to hire two case managers, purchase technology and a parent education program

2. The Vegso Family Foundation - $17,500 February 2020 dollars used for scholarships to support students who do not receive funding from Vocational Rehabilitation.

3. Program Revenues - $305,000 Summer 2019 , $147,000 summer 2020 generated revenue from the Virtual SOAR program.  

We are seeking $300,000 dollars to expand our staff with two additional full time staffers to manage existing campuses while the team leader focuses on expansion of SOAR and the new virtual programming offerings.  These funds would also be used to purchase technology for new sites.  Expenses for SOAR and virtual programs funded by the state do not receive payment for 30-45 days after the completion of the service.  With a loss of revenue in 2020 due to campus shut downs, some funds would be used to cover cost to restart in summer of 2021.  We hope to raise these funds by April of 2021.

Our estimated expenses for 2021:

200 SOAR students at 3 campuses in the State of Florida : Projected expenses $400,000, out of projects revenue of $700,000.  this reflects all costs associated with the SOAR program (housing, meals, transportation, community based instruction, salaries, contractors, insurance, technology, office expenses)

I can't think of a population that needs reimaging pathways more than those with disabilities.  Having seen the challenges first hand with my own son and what it takes to enter the work force.  Even with years of advocacy, training and hard work on my sons serious challenges he works 10 hours a week, uses a bike and public transportation, still lives at home, he will never be self supporting.  The employment barriers are entrenched with our population.  In urban areas services can be more available however in parts of my State of Florida where we are working to expand programming, the panhandle region and the Florida keys are woefully underserved.  The western regions of my own Palm Beach county have high poverty rates, low access to internet services and late diagnosis age due to the stigma attached to autism in some minority populations.  The challenge is big but have a developed a program that works and is in demand.  Specifically the partners of the US Challenge can provide funds to assist with:

1. Hiring staff to mange existing programs and work on expansion
2. Making inroads in underserved areas of Florida and other states and the Divisions of Vocational Rehabilitation in those states
3.  Give expertise on how to scale the staff
4. Protect the program curriculum and mission
5.  Social media marketing to get our message out to the students we can serve
6. Identify partners that align with the population we serve and our mission

Programs and services often provide the best outcomes with partners that compliment each other with the services they provide. I hire those with experience in areas that I don't share, this has given us a strong base moving towards expansion.  The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation requested that we begin offering SOAR in the underserved areas of the state and we spent months working towards this prior to covid 19.  We are currently planning new sites for 2021 to continue to meet the needs of our students. With this expansion comes areas shown in the question above that we need advice and experience to maintain our product and ensure that every student gets a quality program no matter the location. Partners that can help absorb our weaknesses will assist with grants, legal advice, better monitoring and evaluation of our programs, business models and financing that remains sustainable as we grow.

Organizations we would like to partner with:

1. The Able Trust - they work towards employment for the disabled population in Florida, we are currently part of their capacity building initiative 
2. CareerSource - expand our engagement with this agency beyond the current level of sharing services to beginning a program to link our students to employers in the community for On the Job Training (OJT), internships and integrated employment.
3. State Divisions of Vocational Rehabilitation - sustainable funding for program services
4. Universities, public or private - these campuses offer a unique setting to give a college experience to many students who may not have this opportunity
5. Sponsors of the US Challenge - would be able to connect us with knowledge we need to take SOAR nationwide