WWW.PROJECTACTION.ORG

Accessible Transportation: Collaboration between Education and

Transit to Facilitate Access to Programs across Disability

Judy L. Shanley, Dir. Student Engagement & Mobility Management, Easter Seals Project ACTION

Cynthia McCauley, Executive Director, Chautauqua Learn and Serve, Bay District Schools, Florida

The National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) WebinarAugust 2012

www.serviceandinclusion.org

Toll-free hotline: 888-491-0326 (voice/TTY)

National Partnerships

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Today’s Agenda• Overview of Easter Seals Project ACTION• Discussion regarding Federal Initiatives and Mobility Management – Leveraging

Coalitions• Descriptions of Human Services – Education – Transit Connections • Learning about ESPA Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program• Hearing from the field - The Chautauqua Experience• Discussion & Questions: What are you doing in your community?

Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA)

• Mission: promote universal access to transportation for people with disabilities…

• Supports Transportation Precepts of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

• Begun by Congress twenty three years ago to build bridges of understanding between the Transportation and Disability Community

• Cooperative Agreement funded by the Federal Transit Administration and Administered by Easter Seals

• Aligned with Easter Seals work to improve the lives of children, youth, and adults with disabilities

Four Functional Areas to Help Local Organizations Build Accessible

Transportation Capacity• Training Events – travel training, webinars, online training

• Technical Assistance – 800#, email, in-person coalition building events

• Applied Research – fund catalyst and gap filling programs to stimulate academic inquiry and leverage new product development

• Outreach – build awareness & create partnerships

A Poll

What is your experience with Project ACTION?1.Project ACTION is a must have resource - I participate in ESPA events, trainings, and use products!

2.I have heard of Project ACTION – and that’s about it

3.I am so excited to learn more about Project ACTION and can’t wait to find out about events, trainings, and products!

Voices from Youth

I feel like I am independent. I don’tneed to depend on my mom and dad to

take me places. Now I can ridethe bus to get to my job and to the movies

with my friends

These are some of the reactions from youth and adults with disabilities who have gained independence and mobility due to the simple fact that they can now get a ride to work, school, the mall or the library.

http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/183/183.pdf

United We Ride• Federal interagency initiative

• Established in 2004 by Executive Order, the Federal Coordinating

Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) - 60 Federal programs

that fund services for transportation-challenged populations • Improve the availability, quality, and efficient delivery of

transportation services

• Transportation plays a critical role in providing access

• Transportation services are often fragmented, underutilized, or

difficult to navigate

www.unitedweride.gov

WWW.PROJECTACTION.ORG

Person-Directed Mobility Management

Mobility management works at the community level by ensuring that transportation is accessible and the pathways to transportation are

accessible

•Focus on individualized customer markets

•Coordinate service delivery

•Design and manage a transportation infrastructure

http://www.projectaction.org/Initiatives/MobilityManagement.aspx

A Poll - What do you Know about Accessible Transportation in your Community?

Think about the various transportation providers in your community. What do you know about the services they provide?

1. I know the transportation providers and their services

2. I know the transportation providers, but, not much about their services

3. I don’t know much about either the transportation providers or their services and can’t wait to learn more!

Aligning Transportation Education with Educational & Community Reforms

• College and Career Readiness

• Common Core

• District & School Curricular and Programs

• Community & Experiential Education

READY BY 21 INSULATED PIPELINECollege and Career Readiness

Families Peers Community Members

ECD & Child After-School Civic, Social, Work Social & Strategic PlacementCare Providers Programs Opportunities Supports & Coaching

Transportation, Health, Mental Health, Housing, Financial

http://www.readyby21.org/

Why is Transportation Education Important to Students, Families, Educators, and Schools?

Why is Transportation Education Important to Students, Families, Educators, and Schools?

Implementation of the Common Core Standards

A POLL

• Are the services you

provide affected by

the common core

standards?1. Yes

2. No

Strategies to Integrate Accessible Transportation and Transition Services

• Conduct resource mapping of transportation resources & travel

training services

• Learn about mobility management and coordinated planning in

your community

• Ensure IEP goals around accessible transportation

• Invite transit professionals into events

• Use & visit transit – field trips

• Embed transportation content into curriculum and instruction

• Integrate transportation content into professional development

Engage Transportation Stakeholders

• Invite pupil and public transportation professionals to your

meetings, event, IEPs.– National Association for Pupil Transportation

www.napt.org– American Public Transportation Association www.apta.org

• Organize events to address a continuum of transportation –

across education, pupil transportation, and community

transportation

• Use public transit for work experience & field trips

• Use school-provided services to emulate public transit

Share your Successes Regarding Transit-Connections…

• Present at events

• Communicate with district and community

• Write articles and stories

• Document your work – incorporate stories in news briefs and reports

• Participate in national programs

• Use the chat function to share examples of your work

around accessible transportation

• Share your stories via the Accessible Transportation

for Students (ATS) Online Community– http://www.espa-ncst.communityzero.com/ats

Share Your Stories

Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program

• Program Goals– Increase student awareness & use of

accessible transportation– Enhance student self-advocacy & choice– Extend inclusion in school and community

• Participants– Five school districts– Urban & rural– Student-directed projects– Small grant provided to district

About Chautauqua• Comprised of two programs-a transition

school for individuals with disabilities ages – 18-22 and– AmeriCorps VISTA program

• Founded in 2005, Chautauqua is a service

learning evolution of

Bay High School

• Emphasis on transit and mobility

• Partner with higher education

• Characterized by an Inclusive learning

environment

• Informed by pre and post survey – Data driven

• Follows the service learning methodology: preparation,

action reflection and celebration

• Facilitative -all are learners and teachers-teacher,

students (regular ed & special ed) and seniors

• High school students will have IEP goals (challenged) or

dual-enrolled service learning goals-all related to transit

• Elementary students will see a model for inclusion and

friendship

• Learning is hands on and concrete

Our Project with Project ACTION

• Project called "Grandparents, Parks, Picnics, and Public

Transportation“

• Goal - expand the concept of mobility through a shared reality.

• High school students with and without disabilities created a

coloring book, highlighting restaurants and public parks served

by the trolley

• High school students will work with elementary students to

create an invitation for grandparents or senior friend

• Seniors will ride the trolley to a park and have picnic with

students

• All groups will be diverse and inclusive in all dynamics

Service-Learning Project with Project ACTION

Grandparent and student

• Awarded the 2011 Global Call to Action Award,

selected by Nobel Peace Laureates

• Participate in national and International events and

presentations

Sharing Our Success

Chautauqua Community Presentation

Trip to Egypt for IYNS Conference

• Are there challenges related to supporting the use of

public transit?– How did you address these challenges?– What words of advice would you have for

colleagues who want to start programs on transit-related service-learning projects?

Let’s Talk….

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report on Transition

Limited access to reliable public transportation to and from

employment programs and service providers – especially in

rural areas – was also frequently highlighted as a major

challenge

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-594

Better Federal Coordination Could Lessen Challenges in the Transition from

High School

GAO-12-594, Jul 12, 2012

Promoting Travel Training and Transportation Education – Be Engaged!

• Join the accessible transportation for students (ATS) online community-http://www.espa-ncst.communityzero.com/ats

• Sign up to receive all of ESPA notifications www.projectaction.org

• Attend online Webinars – forming partnerships, advocacy, etc.

• Use Global Travel Training Community (GTTC) as a platform for information sharing – dialogue – strategy development – invite others!

• Collaborate across disciplines– Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Division on Career

Development & Transition, National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT)

Resources• Travel Training for School Success High school curriculum

• Pictorial guide: You Can Ride

• Brochure: Rights & Responsibilities of Transit Customers with Disabilities

• ADA Bookmark

• Competencies for the Practice of Travel Training and Instruction

• ESPA training: Introduction to Travel Training Course (scheduled at several times and in various cities annually)

• Impact, Feature Issue on Meeting Transportation Needs of Youth and Adults with Developmental Disabilities. ICI U of Minnesota http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/183/default.html

• NICHCY publication - http://nichcy.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/ts9.pdf

Contact Information• Judy Shanley

– jshanley@easterseals.com– 800-659-6428– 202-403-8354

• Cynthia McCauley– mccauca@bay.k12.fl.us– 850-785-5056