$32 Million Grant Given to UA Is Largest in School History
by October 14, 2013 12:00 am 60 views
A $32 million grant secured by the University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Department of Education will fund research aimed at improving education and career outcomes of low-income teens with disabilities.
The federal research grant is the largest given to the UA in history, according to a university news release.
It was announced by the U.S. Department of Education on Oct. 3 and is tied to a federal program known as PROMISE, an acronym for “Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income.”
Arkansas, California, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin were the only individual states to receive funding.
Brent T. Williams will oversee the research project. A total of 2,000 teens between the ages of 14 and 16 who receive SSI checks will be divided into two groups, half receiving job coaching and benefits counseling and half not receiving any intervention. Data will be gathered for the next five years.
Williams said teens who receive SSI benefits typically don’t have a first job or internship experience, and therefore remain cut off from the world of work.
Fewer than one in 10 teens who receive SSI are later competitively employed, he said.
An employee from the state education department will coordinate the participation of public school personnel.