College of Education: Institute on Disability Project FIRST Granted Sixth Year by Dept. of Ed
October 3, 2024 – Project Finding Innovative Rehabilitation Services Training (FIRST), an initiative within the University of Memphis Institute on Disability (UMID), an institute within the College of Education, has been granted a sixth year of funding by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Project FIRST addresses the shortage of vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors and pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) specialists for youth aged 14-22 with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“We are excited to have been granted a year six. The additional year will allow the opportunity to expose more rehabilitation experts and VR counselors to grow their mastery of understanding and be better equipped to help their clients reach their maximum potential.” said project manager Patrick Krolik.
ED is providing $349,978 for this sixth year, which will run until Sept. 30, 2025. This brings the total funding for the project to $2,324,242, originally set for five years. Krolik emphasized that this extra year will enable his team to reach more state directors, educators and vocational professionals, introducing them to the training modules developed by the UMID team. They also plan to publish research results in academic journals.
“Project FIRST has been a major part of UMID’s research agenda for five years. How blessed we are that the Department of Education has given us an additional year to expand our sphere of influence in this area,” said Dr. Chrisann Schiro-Geist, principal investigator (PI) for Project FIRST and director of UMID. “With this additional time and financial resources, we can spread the word on quality rehabilitation training to places that we could never have reached without this bonus year.”
As part of the project’s outreach, it aims to collaborate with state vocational rehabilitation agencies, including original partners and new states like Connecticut, Idaho, Utah and Florida. Additionally, it will connect with academic programs that offer rehabilitation counseling and engage community organizations for valuable feedback and support through webinars and conferences. The sixth year of Project FIRST hopes to enhance its efforts to train and equip VR professionals, ultimately benefiting youth with disabilities by improving the support and services available to them.
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