Good evening everybody. It is Thursday, April 17th, 6:33 p.m. We will now start our citywide council on special education business and calendar meeting for April. So, welcome everybody.
Interpreters, can you please introduce yourselves and your service? Thank you. Interpret says End of Spanish announcement. Thank you so much. And Rose, can you please do roll call? Yes.
Good evening everyone. Dr. Sai, Carolyn Castro, Heather Daly, Mark Gonzalez here. Shamine is excused. Tamira Reed, she's on her way
in. Correct. Moises Rosario. Maggie Sanchez. Um, can you hear me? Yes. Gotcha. Esases. So, we have a quorum. Okay. We do not have quorum at this time in person. We have a member on their
way, so we should be a quorum shortly. That being said, we've got a pretty uh pretty cool presentation coming up. Johanna, would you like to introduce our uh our team uh um with transition planning?
Sure. Hi everyone. My name is Johanna Rodriguez. I'm the central parent advocate at the special education office and I'm really really excited for this presentation. But before I do that, I'm going to do one announcement. work. We have a disabilities arts contest um
going on right now. The deadline to submit um art K through 12 um was extended to April 30th. And so we have been promoting it on all social media outlets. Um I will drop the link to
enter in the chat shortly. But um with no further ado, I'd like to introduce my colleague Rachel Rippy, and she's going to present tonight with her team. Thank you, Johanna. Can everybody hear me? Okay,
we can hear you. Okay, awesome. I'm just going to share my screen. Uh we've got some slides to share with everyone and I believe these will be distributed after this presentation. So, just in case uh we go too quickly, you should all get a copy
of this. Um while my screen is loading here, I will uh briefly introduce myself and the amazing folks who've joined me here tonight. Um my name is Rachel Rippy Chun. Uh I've been on these meetings in the past uh in a different capacity
um as chief of staff for the office uh for the special education office, but I am now in a new role which is very exciting uh as a strategic adviser on post-secary outcomes for our students with disabilities for the division of inclusive and accessible learning. So,
I'm thrilled to be here and and seeing so many familiar faces uh but my first time joining in this capacity. Uh and I do want to take just a moment to um acknowledge the attendance of another person who is here tonight. In addition
to the incredible Johanna Rodriguez who who represents us regularly um with all of you, we also have Joanna Charles who is the uh latest member of the SEO team and she is our new chief of staff. Uh so
thank you Joanna for being here tonight and uh representing Suzanne Sanchez, our chief of special education. Um I believe she had something uh going on tonight. maybe uh I think she's experiencing a medical issue so she's not able to join
um but I know that she has been joining uh frequently and is uh a huge supporter of the CCSE and um appreciates all of your voices. So thank you Joanna for for joining in herstead tonight. I don't know if you want to say anything to the group real quick before we start. Um
sure. Thank you so much Rachel. You leave big shoes to fill. I'm really excited to step into this role as chief of staff. I have had the pleasure of work uh meeting Mark and some other members of the council and it's nice to
see you all this evening and I just look forward to continuing our relationship. Uh so I won't take much of your time because we're looking forward to a great presentation. Thanks Joanna. Can everybody see my screen yet? that seem to be turning and thinking and I just want to make sure
everyone can see it. It's a big slide. Okay, great. Um, so I am here tonight with a couple of colleagues who can introduce themselves in a moment, but I just want to give a very brief overview. Um, as most of you are familiar, but I know we
may have some folks on who are not familiar. Um, we have a new structure for our division as of this past summer. Um, we were previously the division of student uh specialized instruction and student support. I've already forgotten the acronym. That's how much can change
in in just half a year. Um, DESIs, we are now DIL, the division of inclusive and accessible learning and our leadership structure is here on the screen. Um, at least in terms of uh books related to special education. Our
division also encompasses the office of multilingual learners. Um but our deputy chancellor Christina Fod is at the helm. Uh we have our chief of dial which is John Hammer. So John is now uh he was previously a deputy chief to the special
education office and is now uh actually over all of DICE. So he is supporting not just the special education office but also uh the office of multilingual learners. Um we have our incredible chief Suzanne Sanchez uh at the helm for
special education. Um, and I'm sure most of you know her from her attendance at these meetings. And, uh, we also have our chief of school support and district 75, Andy Corso, who also comes to these, I think, pretty frequently. Uh, and and this is just an incredible leadership
team that, um, everyone should know. And, uh, if you ever need anything, these are our folks. Uh, tonight we have, uh, some special guests from from this slide. Uh obviously first myself as I said uh I am
a strategic adviser on post-secondary outcomes for students with IEPs. Um a lot of our work around transition falls under the vertical of Michelle Netsler who is our senior executive director over specialized instruction and
programs. Um and she's under the special education office reporting to Suzanne Sanchez. Uh, one of her teams is the transition college and access centers. And joining us tonight is Jonathan Santiago, our executive director for transition and
post-secary initiatives in the special education office. We also uh as part of the division of in uh inclusive and accessible learning now oversee the office of district se I should say office, we oversee district 75. Um, and
we have tonight with us Natalie McQueen, our incredible director of transition services and post-secondary planning initiatives for district 75. So, you'll be hearing from both Jonathan, Natalie uh, and myself tonight. And I wanted to
make sure everyone also uh, was familiar with David Abrahams who is our citywide coordinator for the office of travel training. I know he has presented to this group in the past uh but he oversees the incredible work of travel
training that um Dial is really focused this year on expanding and you will hear more about tonight. Um Jonathan or Natalie, do either of you want to say anything before we hop in? Uh sure. Um I'll go first. Hi everyone.
Jonathan Santiago u pleasure to be here. privilege and pleasure to be here alongside Racho Rippy Chen um working alongside her regarding our post-secary and transition um uh different um initiatives that we have uh going in the
special education office and it's a pleasure to also be working for the last eight years with Nali McQueen. Um and Nie, I don't know if you wanted to introduce yourself. Thank you, Jonathan. Uh just wanted to say thank you so much for having us. It's always a pleasure
being here with the council and I think we're always super excited to partner with you and appreciate any opportunity that we can highlight and lift up the work that we have been doing that's really guided and informed by a lot of your feedback. So, we're really appreciative and look forward to
presenting this evening. Rachel, thank you both. Yes, I Natalie and Jonathan have been doing this work for a long time. I am the new kid on the block. So, thank you all for for welcoming me into into the fold. Um, so with that, we'll kick it off. We want to
share our uh first our overarching goals under the division of inclusive and accessible learning for post-secary outcomes. Uh, so we have four overarching goals we're focused on. First, ensuring that every student with an IEP graduates with at least one
meaningful work-based learning experience. Obviously, we want students to have more than one, but that is, you know, the minimum expectation that we are setting. We want to ensure that every student with an IEP has access to travel training to ensure that they can independently travel to and from higher
education or employment upon graduation. Um, we know this is also a huge indicator of quality of life after graduation, if you can independently navigate the city. So, this is something um that's really risen to the top of our priority list this coming school year. We want to ensure that every student
with an IEP has a quality transition plan, including concrete goals for education, employment, and independent living if that is applicable to our student. And we want to eliminate the gap in services between K12 and
adulthood by strengthening partnerships and streamlining collaboration with our adult service agencies. So these are agencies like OPWD, Access VR. We don't want any family to be waiting around for those services when they leave New York City
public schools. So, we're working very closely with regular partnership with those uh organizations to make sure that there's a a really seamless transition from your time with New York City public schools to uh those adult
agencies. Uh so, with that, I will hand it over to Jonathan Santiago to give some information about our TAKX. Yeah, thank you so much, Rachel. So, the transition contract access centers or TCAS um and um so uh b so basically
we're um um community based centers in each burrow that um aid and support only parents but students and also um schools regarding transition postsecary readiness. So the transition college access center supports schools and we
try to help facilitate a seamless transition for students from school to adult life. Um we try to make sure that every single student that um that come into contact with us are provided with experiences that foster their academic, social, emotional and vocational growth
and excellence. And we try to facilitate multiple pathways to graduation and success after high school. I think one of the things that we really really really want to emphasize is the multiple pathways to graduation and success after high school. And um there's been a there
was a huge emphasis years ago on just college readiness, but now we're talking not only talking about college readiness or supporting college readiness, but also vocational growth, um career and technical education growth, independent living. So, we really do support um all
of the multiple pathways to success after high school, whether it was college or any other um pathway that a student chooses. And so, um who do TCA serve or who are our stakeholders? So we support students who uh and families who are
most um important stakeholders but also educators and school staff, community based organizations, um business entities, employers and post-secondary institutions including colleges and universities as well.
So some of the services that the TCAX and transition college access centers um that we support with is transition consultancies and also professional development. Um we provide individual assistance to schools, students and families with employment and such
examples with employment is pre-employment skills, career exploration, career mapping, career paths for employment, workbased learning, post-secondary agencies, access VR
support regarding education, college university program advising, College accessibility offices, vocational training, nonredit college programs, college experience programs, also independent
living, housing resources, activities for daily living, financial wellness and education, and also self- advocacy and self-determination. We also have a lot of partnerships with different city and state agencies such as
OPWD, Access VR, um the mayor's office of people's with disabilities. So, we really do emphasize um agency linkages to support the domains of transition and also education regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Thank you, Jonathan. Um, I'm just going to take a moment to hop in here and speak a little bit about local law 18. Uh, if you're not familiar with this, uh, in 2023, this law, this local law was passed that, uh, required the, um, really required the mayor's office for
people with disabilities in collaboration with New York City public schools to create a system to electronically share information about students with IEPs with high institutions of higher education. Uh and so the way that we have responded
to this law was by doing a couple of things. Uh the first thing we did was we updated our records request form. Uh this is the form that you may be familiar with um or you will be familiar with it if you're not yet. Uh when when a student goes to college or you need to
request any kind of uh educational documentation from your school, whether it be attendance records, report cards, things like that. uh you would do that through this records request form and it now has uh categories listed on this form including the IEP and your most
recent uh special education evaluation documents. Uh so those are now uh available and obvious to request with that form which is really nice and that's available to anyone any time. Uh but in addition to that, because that's still something, you know, you have to
seek out and request, we've updated um the special education student information system or CEUS to include uh a letter with every IEP uh that happens once a student turns the age of 14. Uh
your IEP, if your child is 14 or older, should include a letter as part of the prior notice package for placement. Uh, that's a lot of words. That really just means uh the the last part of an IEP, the document itself. Um, you should receive a letter that gives an overview
of uh college and the expectations and the differences between um the protections you receive under IDEIDA while your child is in high school uh and then the protections under FURPA when your student transitions to college. There's different laws that
cover different things whether you're in the educational system for preK through 12 and then uh once you go to college you're covered by something called Furpa. Um and that requires students typically to self-identify their disability. So if a student is the age
of 18 or older they actually have to say I have a disability and go seek out that help from the college. Um, so this letter outlines that process and and different resources you can access for help to navigate that process. But most importantly, at the bottom of that
letter, there is an opt-in uh section that has a checkbox and parents or students uh depending on age. So parents can do this if the student is under 18 and students can do this if they're 18 or older can opt in to have their IEP or
their most recent special education evaluation sent to a destination of their choice. That destination might be their email address so that they can do what they want with the documentation. Uh the destination could be a disability office or center at an institution of
higher education or at a trade program they're enrolling in. So we then at the school level will send that information to the destination of the student or parents choice. Again depending on age. So if your child is over 18 when they're going into higher education, you would
not be able to opt in on behalf of your child. Uh but the student could opt in themselves once they're age 18. Um and then we have uh our fantastic transition college and access centers. um transition and college access centers
have post-secary engagement managers that are assisting students through this process. So if you need support um these folks are available to help as well. But we just want everybody to know that this is um this is new. It it went into place this year in the IEP. So this should be
a letter you start to get familiar with. Again, when your child turns 14, you should be getting this letter. Um, and then you have that ability to opt in moving forward until your student graduates. We also want to shed a little light on our college planning guide. Uh,
this is an incredible resource that was developed by the office of student pathways in collaboration with folks across the state, in collaboration with our TCAS, and in collaboration with the district 75 office. Um, so this resource is available on our website. I will drop
it in the chat. I can't at the moment, but I will as soon as I can, unless someone else beats me to it. Um, but this is a resource that guides uh families and students who have IEPs or 504 plans through the college planning process. So, it has information on
knowing your rights. Again, the differences between high school versus college. Some of the things I was just talking about with that local law 18 letter are outlined in more detail in this guide. Um, different ways to build key skills for college. um information on how to apply for college and
different training options, certification programs. We know that college traditional college is not the only option. Um information on how to pay for college, different financial aid options. Um some more cost-effective solutions like community college. Uh and
then again that information about accommodations in college and how to understand the available supports and services and how to communicate those needs to the the college uh office of accessibility or disability that will be able to determine your eligibility for
that. Uh and again a lot of additional resources in this guide too. So we'll let you peruse that at your leisure and we'll drop it in the chat and I will hand this back over to Jonathan. Thank you so much Rachel. So some of the different programs that the TCAX or
transition college access centers that we provide um is work-based learning programs and also internship programs. So um one of the programs that we do provide during the school year is a training opportunities program or top and this program is offered um
throughout the school year from September until June. Um students can work up to 40 hours total. Um um we've had up to in a in a school year up to 8,000 students participate into in
in the TOP program. And so this program also uh was aligned to the SEAOS credential. And of course if you guys um if you need more information regarding the CEOs credential, we'll be very happy to send more information. But be uh but uh we wanted to make sure that students who are participating continuously in
our workbased learning programs were offered um the CADS credential and also valuable work-based learning and internship um internship uh opportunities. We also alongside with our DYCD um colleagues and partners offered a
work learning grow program. And so we uh this program allows students who participate to have college and internship throughout the school year, fall and spring. Students work in community settings or in their schools and they work between 12 to 21 hours per
per week and they also are um um gain not only internship experience but also college credits. And we also have the summer youth employment program or SYP. And so this program is a summer program um that runs for six weeks. And so
students are allowed to work between 12.5 and 25 hours per week. And this program we do support about 1500 um students throughout the summer throughout the five burrows. And so we're looking to also expand that number as well.
And so when we look at how we're preparing students for employment or how the TCAS support our students uh with disabilities, first and foremost, we identify um training required and students own personal values. So we want to make sure that any internship or any
work-based learning program that any of the students um are participating in are aligned to their goals and also to their um to their transition postsecondary success goals. We help students gather information on various jobs that
interest them. And I think the um uh the key word there is that you know it that whatever job or ship that they're involved in is a job that interests them that it's part of their interest that students are not just being placed in work-based learning or internship
programs that are completely opposite of what their interest is. So we we make a concerted effort to make sure that that um everything aligns to the students interest. We assist acquiring job writing skills or coach students on specific job tasks at their work site.
We also work um handinhand with um with intern with our partners and our and wherever students are interning that uh that students are that that students are meeting with their work site supervisors and that we're also meeting their work site supervisors to make sure that
they're a success. We guide students in identifying their interests, strengths, needs, and wants. We emphasize professional attributes and also work with students to build up resume uh building skills. And we also engage in mock interviews to pre to prepare
students for interview for job interviews with potential employers. And Jonathan, I know I'm going to go a little bit out of the norm here, but we did get a question about this and I think it's good to clarify now in the chat. Um the question was whether uh
these previous let me go back um these opportunities all have paid work experience. So I just wanted to give you a second to clarify that. Yes absolutely. So regarding top so regarding top we do have a paid internship and workbased learning
portion and a non-paid internship uh portion. We are looking at ways to be a to be able to um get more funding for the top program, but there is a paid internship and a non-paid internship regarding work learning grow the work learn and grow program. It is paid and
SYP is also paid as well. Thanks Jonathan. Um just quickly I want to make sure that folks know about our our CTE partnership with the office of student pathways as well. Um, you know, we get a lot of
feedback that students need, students with IEPs need additional support in their CTE courses. And so, for the past two years, we have been uh piloting a coaching model with uh a couple of vendors. So, um this year we're working
with Blue Engine and Bridges from school to work uh and they are supporting schools directly uh with our CTE courses. So they go in and provide coaching to the teachers uh themselves on how to um you know meet the needs of
their students with IEPs and 504 plans. Uh this is designed you know to make sure that students are receiving rigorous and accessible uh and supportive classrooms. Um we want teachers to be able to leverage planning time and implementation practices to
increase inclusive teaching strategies. uh we want them to basically be armed with the tools to serve all of their learners and not need a special education teacher to come in and and do something separate. We want to give them the tools and the strategies to provide
that instruction to their students. Um and for school leaders, uh these vendors are supporting with strengthening inclusive school structures because we want this impact to really be felt across all programming. So if if a if a school has this CTE partnership, you
know, we're we want that to ripple have a ripple effect across the school. Um so those inclusive practices uh are are implemented even outside of the CTE classroom. So we just wanted you to know that that exists. Uh and Jonathan can
talk a little about Priett. Oh, Jonathan, you're muted. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you, Rachel. So, one of our main programs is the pre-employment transition services or PREATS program. And uh uh this program exists um to um
support students in workplace readiness training to develop their social skills and independent living skills. We also work with their self- advocacy instruction, post-secary options counseling, job exploration counseling,
and also workbased learning experiences. So a good question is who provides the services for pre-ETSS? Uh New York State Certified Special Education Teachers and also guidance counselors. Uh we als we
partner with the pre-ETSS program with Access VR and and the New York State Department of Education. Um one question that many people ask is where does the service take place in person and also virtual? And who are the students?
Students that participate in this program are students attending NYC public schools including community schools, district 75 charters, non-public and also alter alternative schools.
I also wanted to just uh quickly just say that um uh uh with um with the state ed department and also of access VR, we were just once again uh given a contract to provide work-based learning experiences through the pre-ETSS program
which which is going to expand our work-based learning programs throughout the five bureaus. So, it's a very exciting time. Uh we're looking at making sure that uh we expand internship and work-based learning experiences for our students. We do have many many partnerships with both big and also
small businesses um and community based organizations. Some of the uh some of our partners include NYPD, FDNY, Google, Apple, um Mass Square Garden, and also the Met, which I'm looking very forward
to visiting our students at the Met and seeing the great work that they're doing. Um but a quick question that many parents ask themselves is, "How can I apply to the pre to the PREATS or pre-employment transition services program?" Um so you can contact your
burough TCAC. Um parents and students can fill out all um need to fill out all sections of the pre-ETSS application. Um eligibility requirements is students must be between the ages of 14 through 21. Have a documented
disability. Uh be an NYCPS student not already working with Access VR. And again, we partner with Access VR and state ed um with in the pre-ETSS program. Um completed applications can be emailed or delivered to your TCA
burough office. And so there's a link uh where um at the um beginning of this slide. If you click on it, you have all of the information of your specific TCA burough office. Um once we get the applications, TAC staff review
applications and submit into the Access VR system. Once approval is received from access VR, uh the TACK office will contact parents individually to discuss options for delivery of services with the
applicants and guardians. And the delivery of services is both in person or virtual uh during the school during school or after school and with groups or individual. And so this program of the TAX um uh is from 8 am basically to
8 pm. TAX staff are available regarding a pretty ETSs program and uh we do have staff working until um 8:00 PM and supporting students um throughout the school day and after the school day as well. Uh we work um with districts 1
through 32. We also work with district 75, but I'm going to allow um my colleague Nalie is going to talk so much more because our programs uh work together and hand in hand. We do plan hand in hand and work together and also with district 79 who are alternative
schools and programs and we're very closely with district 79 and um and so we're just very happy uh with our um several programs that we have, not only our work-based learning program, but our instructional support programs as well. and we look forward to um not only
engaging all of our stakeholders, students, families, and schools, but also expanding them in the near future. Um so, thank you so very much. And I think I'm going to hand it over to my colleague, uh Natalie McQueen.
Thank you, Jonathan. Um so just to uh continue I think the amazing conversation that we're having about transition planning I wanted to speak a little bit about some of the work that we're doing in district 75 that is somewhat of an extension of the work that's coming out of the TAX and from
dial um in general. So within district 75 through the office of transition services and post-secary planning initiatives, we coordinate transition planning activities for students in all of our district 75 programs in all five burrows, which includes home and
hospital instruction. Um, and we do this um at the district level in partnership with a school-based personnel. And really our goal is really making sure not only that we're providing information to schools and supporting them with building capacity, but also working directly and supporting students
and families so that they're getting direct service and um timely and intentional information related to transition planning to really empower our families and our young adults so that they can access positive um inschool and postchool outcomes as it
relates to living, learning, and earning. Next slide, Joel. So, in terms of preparing our students for independence and success, again, you're going to hear very similar themes. Um, so in terms of school support, um, we work very closely again
with our school partners, um, administrators and, um, teachers and and other pedagogues to really support the development of school-based enterprise. I mean, we're always thinking about supporting our students in the areas of education, employment, and independent
living and making sure that we're developing programming and and and considering access through very individualized lens based on students needs, goals, um, and interests. And so some of these school-based enterprises um can range anywhere from design,
culinary, retail, baking, cosmetology, automotive, mail room, technology services, healthcare, environmental, print services, etc. We also uh research and we work very closely to identify um relevant um and
really appropriate uh work readiness and life skills curricula and activities that's that are going to support students um with acquiring and mastering certain skills and competencies and really making sure that we're thinking about uh this all through the lens of
the students needs and goals. Um we also provide targeted professional development and technical assistance to schools to facilitate transition planning. So really supporting them with really thinking about their systems and structure. What is the framework that
they are are looking through the lens of in terms of identifying um opportunities for students um based on their abilities. Um, also helping folks think about curricula activities and whether
it's in school or post um, school or community or least restrictive opportunities, really thinking about how we're supporting students and then also also thinking about direct support for school-based uh, personnel. So um within most of our schools uh most of our high
schools there is either a transition team leader or a designated uh transition point who we work very closely with um not only to disseminate information but to provide them with um direct support um in terms of being able to support families with accessing and
connecting to services in a very timely manner whether it's connecting to TCA services or services that are existing within District 75 or through community partners. ers when we think about student and family support um across the board we
are really also very intentional about the use of age appropriate assessments to inform student centered planning and so when we talk about age appropriate assessments um we're talking about whether it's interviews whether it's uh independent living skills
um assessments to determine um what students preferences are um whether it's self-determination assessments. Um, anything that's really going to support us with identifying skills, abilities, or needs that's going to inform transition planning for that young
adult. And, um, it's really going to inform and help us with planning around the circle of support and resources that we need to tap into to support this young adult and making sure that it's student centered. Um, we've also, um, in partnership with the office of travel
training. Um, one of the things that was started a few years ago in district 75, it was a journey to independence um, pre-travel training uh, in uh, series for parents and that takes place on the weekend. Um, and so we have held this in
all five burrows over the over over the years. And it was really meant to support families and young adults who may not already be on the travel training list, learn more about travel training and supporting families and those young adults with learning about how to navigate the environment and
learning about safety. So, initial prerequisite skills such as learning how to um know where to sit on the bus, knowing who your community helpers are, um just being very aware within their respective environments. Um and it also
creates an opportunity for parents to be able to ask the travel trainers um questions even before they make a decision around travel training. Um, and it really also from what I've seen personally, it also gives parents the opportunity to see the joy and the
excitement and the pride that um is shown by our young adults when they're able to engage in some of these um activities where they actually get to demonstrate and show that they're able to um participate in some of these activities. We also think we also
facilitate workshops um and agency and program linkages for families. So whether it's connecting uh families to OPWD or having information sessions on things like guardianship, what is transition planning, understanding the IEP, um understanding the type of
assessments that are utilized, um having conversations and thinking about, you know, what are the options for young adults after they leave high school or even understanding what work-based learning is and what all of the options are are some of the things are also
available to families. Um, and when we think about community partners, similar to the transition and college access center, as as Jonathan shared, we um, initiate and we cultivate very diverse partnerships um, with mom and
pop establishments and also some really large establishments too. So again based on some of the areas that I talk ranging from healthc care um technology uh you know customer service pharmaceutical settings um and it's really just about
making sure that our students are able to have access to work based work-based learning opportunities that match their post school goals interest um and supporting them with again developing certain competencies that would lead them to be successful whether it's
college or career. Next slide. So, just to highlight some of our work-based learning programs. Um, so similar to the transition and college access center, uh, we do also offer yearround school and community
work-based learning experiences. So we have generally within district 75 we have yearround um internship and or volunteer opportunities for our young adults that are again aligned to their interests. Um some of them are
um set up at the district level and then they're dispersed through schools. Some of them are set up at the school level but our students at the schools usually have opportunities to participate in these opportunities. Uh these opportunities could be either part-time or full-time. part-time opportunities.
Uh students may go out into the community of a few hours um per day or maybe a few hours per week. Um in the cases where there may might be a what may be considered a full-time community-based setting um an entire
class um will be housed at a particular off-site location where students will receive their instruction and then have um access to participate in work-based learning at specific times during the course of the day. Similar to the transition and college access centers
um we also do have a work learn and grow um contract also that's made available through the department of youth and community development. So, similar to what uh Jonathan shared there, this program generally starts uh generally around October and it ends in it ends in
March of the following year. And there's a college/career instruction component which usually is the first part that happens in the fall. For the college component, students are either able to earn college credit or not college credit based on the classes that are available and the community partner for
that through DYCD is usually Kingsboro Community College. And then once students start the internship phase of that, um students earn minimum wage through the end of the program and students can work uh in community settings or in their schools anywhere
between 12 to 21 hours per week. Uh we also have a summer youth employment contract and uh that program also runs for 6 weeks. So younger youth uh who are ages 14 to 15, they can participate in project-based learning and they earn a
stipen of up to $700. And then older youth who are ages 16 through 22, they can work up to 25 hours per week and they can earn minimum wage. And similar to the work learning grow program um this is also through uh
the department of youth and community development and students also have opportunities to participate um either in a community setting or a school-based setting again based on their needs and based on their goals. Next slide.
So some of the other opportunities um just to highlight we also within district 75 have uh six uh project search programs. So this is in partnership with HRC, OPWD, access VR and project search.
So project search is a national program. Um and so of these six community based sites generally uh young adults who are within their last year of school um they can applied. It's a interview process
that again all of the stakeholders that are listed there um um the students families or slash the young adult apply they have to go through the application process. Um, of the six sites that we have, the sectors that we have programs
in are in health. Uh, so we have in two hospitals, we also have in education, we have in culinary, food service and office service sectors. And um students generally at the end of that program usually have access um there's a very
high um employment rate for students who are participating in that program. and if they are not necessarily hired by the program where they're doing the internship then EHRC continues to work with them to try to find them employment placement. Um in this program students
typically in that year students do three rotations. So, if a student is housed at a if the student's internship is at a hospital, um they may work in a clerical division, they may work in um transport division, they may work in
the emergency room, whether it's sanitizing equipment, but they tend to do three different rotations. So, they actually get to learn uh different skills in that setting. We also have um a partnership with Lincoln Center um and this is through their Lincoln Center ambassadors program. And so this is a
program where students received uh arts focused instruction and then they participate in a community- based internship at Lincoln Center where they work either evening or weekend shifts um supporting live events at uh Lincoln
Center. And um all of both of these programs that I've mentioned as I said they are available to students across all five bureaus and students would apply accordingly. And then last but not least, we have um the ETP program which is available through OPWDD. So students
usually have access to this opportunity um whether it's in their either they're within their last two years of school um and they can participate in paid internships that are developed by um our team and the stipen or slash the wage is
paid for um by OPWD. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you, Natalie and Jonathan, uh, for all of that incredible information. Um, this is our last slide and it's sort of a preview. So, some of this is hot off the press. Um, but these are some new
initiatives that uh we've we've put in place this school year and some that are coming in the following school year that we just want to uh let everyone know are happening. So um first on the list we have been dabbling in some CBOled travel
training for uh district sta staff in districts 1 through 32 um school staff I should say in districts 1 through 32 particularly our ACES and horizon programs uh which are programs in uh districts 1 through 32 schools for
students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. Um, so we've namely been working with YAI. Uh, they have a grant through the state that, uh, allows them to offer travel training, um, to the public. Uh,
when I say travel training, um, they actually do a train the trainer type of series. Um, and their program is actually built off of the amazing program from the office of district 75. Um, so it's a very similar curriculum and you know we feel good about it
because we know that program is the uh the holy grail. Um, so it's kind of an abridged version of that that uh we've been piloting in in some of our district 1 through32 schools. Um, this the very beginning stages of this. uh our our
schools transparently um have provided some feedback that it wasn't really enough for them to feel completely confident going out and then travel training students um in their schools. So, we are providing some follow-up and some additional support. Um but it's
just another example of uh ways we're thinking about travel training moving forward. Um particularly we know that the the program currently in place through district 75 is incredibly comprehensive. That's why it's so
effective. Um and and it is capable of of teaching some students that you know parents struggle to to even understand that their child may be capable of independent travel because they need so much support. And Natalie mentioned that journey to independence training which
is really uh focused on that on mindset shifts and helping families to see what their children are capable of and the importance of that independence and um you know some of the things that can be implemented at home or you know as
families are traveling around the city to help promote independence for their child. Um and and we're finding that not every student needs that level of support for travel training. You know, students with IEPs and 504s come with a
range of abilities and needs. And we know that there are children who may need less support, but they still need travel training, but they may not need to go through the full travel training program through district 75, which many students do need. Um, but we are
piloting this summer a safety and independence training for parents, which you are the first group to hear this announcement. Um, that uh we'll be training parents with the skills and resources to travel train their own children to and from
school. Um, we recognize that this will not be for everyone. Um there are, you know, the existing programs will still be in place, but if you are a parent and you have a child who maybe just needs a little bit of support or um you know,
you just need the tools to um you know, how to instruct your child and to be safe when they're traveling, this would be a good program for you. I see a comment in the chat. Yes, uh Omniards will be a part of this program. So, we're still negotiating the details, but
um we will be providing omniards to both parents who uh participate in the program and complete the training as well as students. Um and those omniards are good for a year and and and they mirror the Omni um usage for for the
rest of the city. I believe they're um there's not a limit to how many rides. It's it's it's quite an incentive. Um, so as this is developed and we will be sure to share more information through CCSE um and and make sure everybody knows about this opportunity when the time
comes to sign up. Uh we're we're starting with a pilot of about 300 families. So um not tiny but not we we know there's a lot larger need than 300. So telling you all now if this is interesting uh hopefully you can be one
of the first 300 to to participate and we would love feedback about you know whether this is something that meets your needs uh whether there's something different that you need that we're not providing um we are very much in a space um of learning when it comes to this and
of exploration and and we want to create multiple I keep saying access points uh multiple access points to travel training uh that meet the needs of of of lots of different populations. So, please don't hesitate to um reach out to me directly with that feedback. I'll put
my email in the chat. Um and you know, we can continue to engage CCSC through uh Johanna. Um if there are additional conversations we should have around that, um I also want to highlight uh something very exciting that this year
we have been involved in integration with the office of student pathways strategic planning for the year. So um you know different divisions in New York City public schools get together annually and they plan their goals basically for the next year. This has
been happening for you know ever. Um and for the first time, uh we dial the division of inclusive and accessible learning have been brought into that planning process with the office of student pathways, which is super encouraging and exciting because as that
team is developing their work-based learning goals and their postchool pathways for all students, they are proactively asking for input for students with IEPs, students with disabilities, multilingual learners. So, you know, we're thrilled to to be a part
of that work and we want everyone here to know that that's happening and it's a really encouraging sign of collaboration moving forward and will hopefully uh lead to many more positive outcomes for our kids. Um, we're also piloting another program this summer. Uh, Natalie
again mentioned the amazing journey to independence, which I recently learned she basically created. Uh, but this is an incredible uh program for families and students to um to get them primed for travel training. It's not travel training. I want to make that clear.
It's a pre-travel training program. Um, but we are piloting this in district 1 through32 schools uh in our ACES program. Uh so more information to come about that and if your child is in the ACES program, they will uh have the
opportunity to to register for this and you will have the opportunity. This is not just for students. This is for families and students. Uh and it'll be happening, I believe it's a 4-week course. Um the regular journey to independence is a bit longer, but this ACE's version is going to be a four-week
course. Um and it'll be uh exciting and uh coming very soon. Uh I want to also talk about our parent university transition series that is in the works. The first uh couple of uh modules are actually in development
and uh we have 37 I think I know Alex is is here on the call from the transition alliance. He can keep me honest in the chat if I'm misrepresenting. Um but I believe we're at 37 modules that we have collaborated with the transition alliance on um creating that will be
available on parent university for you uh as parents to access anytime on demand covering a range of transition topics. So everything from you know what is transition? What are we talking about when we say transition to um you know
financial literacy and uh dayhab options or college planning you know so really trying to cover the scope. That's why there's so many modules. Every module may not be applicable to you, but we're hoping to provide a breadth of
information um that will uh be able to guide you through this, you know, complicated transition process. Um so, as those come live, we will be sure to share those announcements with CCSC as well, so you can access those. They'll also be available on YouTube. So if you
don't have access to parent university, um we know that there's a bit of a limitation there with students in public schools, but everyone can access YouTube. So uh those will be accessible to everyone that way for our students in uh private schools or who may not have access to to parent
you. Uh and finally, our IEP toolkit, which was something that came out of the bold reimagining of special education advisory council, um is in the works and I believe parts of it have actually already been released to schools. Um, but there is a heavy transition
component to this IEP toolkit. And we want schools and particular particularly IEP teams to have uh resources at their fingertips so that they know, you know, how to select appropriate age appropriate transition assessments and
how to think about um post-secary IEP goals in a way that's actually meaningful and not just for compliance and checking, you know, the box that we made these goals, but how do you really talk to students and families and figure out what their passions and interests are so that um you can make meaningful
goals that uh actually bring us in a direction of success. Uh so all of this is in the works and uh you know we're I'm thrilled to be a part of this incredible team. Again, Jonathan and Natalie are experts in this work and um
we're hitting hitting the pavement every day trying to bring you some some new things uh that you will hear more about in the coming months. And that is our presentation, but we hopefully have time for some questions if that is possible.
Yes, we definitely have some questions. Um, we have first Daniel um our student council member. Daniel, questions please. Uh, yes. Thank you. Thank you very much. So, uh, let me think just a little
bit. Sorry. Uh, I I had something written down other than Oh, I just found so sorry by the way for not showing my face on camera. My bandwidth isn't the best right now. But thank you Rachel Joanna and the rest
of the team for this presentation. So in the past I participated in the TOP program and also I had a summer job through the summer youth employment program and it gave me very valuable job experience. So these are great programs. However, I had no idea how to get to
work by public transportation. So, my father spent hours with me going back and forth in the subway system to teach me what to do. It's also important to teach us what to do if there's a problem. You know, sometimes we miss getting off at the right stations. Sometimes the subway gets rerouted to
another line. These situations always got me very nervous because I was not sure what to do. But my father tried to cover the major contingencies that is it's it's important that when there's travel training that we are also taught what to do when the travel path is not
going on perfectly as planned. So and what to do if there are changes to the usual travel plan and with furpa as mentioned earlier today I want to share my experience with furpa in college. Purple is supposed to protect students
privacy in college, but in my experience in the cutuny college I attended, it was used as an excuse to prevent my parents from helping me and supporting my testing accommodations. Even though I have an IEP and 504 accommodations. That professor was very upset when my parents
tried to speak with her after I gave my consent. And at the end, the department of that professor called to rebuke my parents for advocating for me. And despite my self- advocacy, my parents getting involved, and even my high school getting involved, I did not get the accommodations I needed for that
class. So, this is something that New York City has to fix, especially in the CUTUNI colleges, which are officially part of the city. Daniel, thank you so much for that incredible feedback. Um, you know, you are exactly who we want to hear from when it comes to this stuff. And I'm
sorry that you had um some not some so positive experiences but also some positive ones. Um if I can address each of of the things you just mentioned and I can call on my colleagues to help as well. Um but first I'm when you mentioned the travel training and and
planning for those unexpected situations that is spoton. Uh I I you know regretfully I I wish that you had had that training from us when you were in school but I can say that that the travel training program that we provide
does cover those kinds of situations. So that's a huge part of the curriculum is what happens when things don't go right and planning for that. And actually instructors are instructed to let students get lost. So when I say that, they don't let them out of their sight,
but they follow close behind while they make decisions that might not be the right ones because, you know, they have to observe and and and be able to really directly uh instruct students on, okay, you made this decision, what went wrong there? And really work through the the
thinking about why something may not have gone as planned or what why a decision may have been better if it was different or why this led to a bad outcome, etc. So you are you are speaking our language. You would be an excellent travel trainer. Um that is exactly the kind of uh of work that we
do with travel training. And it's going to be a huge component of this parent independence and safety training. That's the kind of stuff we're going to talk to families about. So it's not just taking your your student to and from school or to and from different routes. that's
actually going through that process of, you know, the train's down today, so we're going to go this other way. And sometimes you might have to even fake those situations just to try them. Um, and so we'll be we'll be instructing families on exactly what you mentioned. Um, because it can be incredibly
frustrating. We've all been there. Those of us that that that use public transit on a daily basis, it is uh never as expected uh and keeps us on our toes. And it's really important to be able to adapt and and have um and be ready for those situations. So, we do practice
them and plan for them. Um and I would love actually, Daniel, if you're comfortable with it, if I could get in touch with you after this and maybe you could be um a part of this parent training series and come talk about your experience and help drive some of those
experiences home with the families going through the training. um and so that they can understand the importance um based on your firsthand experience. So if you're comfortable with that, I would I would love to get in touch um after this. And then when it comes to furpa um
you know unfortunately we hear that feedback a lot. It's a huge shift from what you're used to when you're in school and and having your parents play such a a large role in your education to suddenly almost being banned. And you're
right, it does kind of feel like that even though the the intention of the law is is definitely not that and we know that. Um but it does feel like that when you know you're trying to be supported and and folks aren't allowed. You know, you know, the college staff is is
literally not allowed to to speak to your parent. Um but it sounds like you gave some consent and that was still not honored. So um that's really important feedback that um you know Jonathan and Natalie both work closely with the CUTUNI system and um and Sunni and other
uh college systems here in New York and um you know we have representation on a post-secondary advisory council with the state that has lots of of these players and we can share that feedback and you know possibly some additional training needs to happen on college campuses
about um sensitivity around that shift. you know, we're doing all of this preparation in high school of this is going to change, be ready for this change, but is that same preparation happening in the college system where kids are coming in and and families may not be used to that shift and and also
have to do some adjusting. So maybe some sensitivity and um and training there would be helpful too. So that feedback is extremely powerful and heard loud and clear. Um, and again, I'm sorry those those were your experiences, but thank you for sharing and um, we will take
that and and do what we can to make sure uh, things are better for folks going forward. I don't know Jonathan or Natalie if you want to add anything there. Um, so I just wanted to say thank you so much Daniel for that feedback and that
information. Um we have been you know discussing travel training for some time now and uh trying to emulate some of the great practices that exist in district 75 in districts 1 through 32 and 79. And
um I um I agree with uh with Rachel. We would love to have um you know um your viewpoint and your experiences um when we when we're planning regarding travel training. It's unfortunate that you experienced that. I'm very happy that
you had a you had a great experience in TOP uh which is one of our programs at TACK and also at S um with SYP. But travel training has been something that we have been looking at how we can do a better uh job and how we can better plan
to prepare students um regarding travel training. I myself as a person from New Jersey um was lost in the New York City subway system um you know coming in and so um I I I know how difficult it can be
and so um having Rachel now on our team transition post is something that we brought travel training into the forefront of our planning and um you know we're not look we're not only looking at how we can better um uh uh um
do travel training but also uh workshops for students and families as well uh is something that we're looking at um expanding. And so your voice is very powerful and so much appreciated and we look forward to um you know having your voice and other voices of other students
who've experienced the same challenges and we're here for you. We you know we're listening right now and it's something that Rachel Nally and I speak about on a weekly basis. So we look forward to working with you and working with um you know other students and
families to better um support regarding travel training. So thank you so much for your um testimony and your cander and uh thank you Rachel and Jonathan for your feedback and also Rachel I would be happy to help with uh later on what you
just mentioned earlier. So and also CUNI just started using an app called accommodate. So, did they integrate it with CS the C system yet? Oh, sorry. You're you muted. You're muted, Rachel.
Sorry. Thank you. Can you guys hear me now? Yes. Okay. Um, I got excited and started talking before unmuting. Um, thank you for bringing up accommodate. I'm actually going to drop a link to that in the chat as well. Um, it's a huge step forward for the CUTUNI system.
It is not however Daniel um incorporated with CEUS uh so they don't speak to each other. Um but that said uh we are in regular communication with CUNI and we and they are aware of some of our work around local law 18 that I mentioned um
and this opt-in um system that we have going through CEUS where families can opt in on the IEP to to the electronic sharing of the IEP and assessments. Um I will caveat that by saying we are in as some members of the council may know uh
or do know we are transferring from the current system which is CESUS to atlas um which brings opportunity for further alignment of systems. Obviously, we can't say that will will happen for sure, but it's another um you know, item
we can add to our list of stakeholders who possibly need access for systems to talk to each other. Um CEUS is quite limited in in how we're able to expand and adapt the system, which is why we're, you know, building a new one. Um
but possibly some of the work on Atlas going forward could um could communicate with things like CUTUNI accommodate which I think to your point would would make things a lot more streamlined for students. So um we are you know connected with CUTUNI and they are aware
of how to get information from us and the fact that uh you know this new law has allowed students and families to opt in on a on a much uh higher level. Uh so we expect to to make that a lot more easy going forward so that you know not
necessarily you don't need the systems necessarily to speak to each other because they know that they can reach out to us and see if there's consent and we can just share those documents readily. Thank you very much for that Rachel. Thank you. We'll be in touch Daniel.
Yes. Gonna get your info from Rose. Thank you Daniel. Thank you for the an uh responses Carolyn. Hello. Thanks Mark. Uh hi everybody and thank you for the presentation. It was very well put together and had a lot of
information. So the first I have two questions. The first I think you can answer tonight. The second I think we are going to have to have a longer conversation on. So the first question is whenever these programs are rolling out, how can we consider students who
are not in districts 1 through 32 who are in NPS systems? Because every time we have these conversations, I always think of Maggie and parents like Maggie and I think of Mark and other parents whose students are in NPS, A53s, 4410s, whatever the acronyms are. Um it would seem to me that these
students also have to have priority because their services are not cannot be offered in districts 1 to 32 which is why they are moved to MPS schools. So what is the consideration for this population in these programs? And then
the second question which I think is outside of this meeting conversation is from an operational standpoint what are the successes and failures in when you're looking at vendors because I heard I think I'm Jonathan say you know Google culinary
and then I heard Natalie for district 75 say similar things. Are you actively recruiting these businesses? Are they coming to you? How do you know um looking back if these businesses correlate to students needs? Which ones
are more popular? Which ones can you cut your contracts with to pivot to something else? So, those are my two questions. I'll I'll take the first part of that uh and then I'll pass over to Jonathan and Natalie to speak to um some of their employer partners. Um but when you
mentioned nonpublic schools, so I said access points, right? We've got to have multiple access points to travel training for different groups of students, whether that's based on the type of school they attend or ability. Um, and I mentioned the YAI training
that we uh did this past year with Horizon and ACES. That is a particular area we're excited about possibly extending to non-public schools because this is, you know, it's training that's already being provided. In fact, um this
past uh semester, we we did share all of the YAI sessions that are happening, the travel training, train the trainer sessions with our cse to blast out to the non-public schools uh and 853s and you know, the schools who've been missing this information. We
particularly wanted to market that Yi training to them um because anyone can attend those and it's a great way to get those those sites on board. Um but that's just the beginning. But I just want you to know it's something we're thinking about and we're, you know, that's one organization, but there are
many CBOS um and and a couple of others particularly who do travel training that we're aware of that we'd like to engage in further conversations with and see if um developing something for those staffs staff is something we can do um moving forward. So, it's on our radar uh and
for now it's it's a bit limited uh just you know operationally and what we can provide but we're thinking about it and um leaning toward the CBO pathway for those uh for those students and families. Um but Natalie and Jonathan I will I will turn it over
to you to speak to um how you're monitoring your employer uh relationships and outcomes. Yeah. So I I just want to also also mention regarding non-public schools. Um so the TAX transition contracting centers um are community based um offices within each
community um in each burrow that each burrow um and it's there to support the community whether it's a non-public school student or a NYCPS student. So we do work the gamut with both public school students and non-public school
students. So, uh, we do have a lot of families who do, um, walk in or create appointments. Um, and we don't ask if they're public school students or nonpublic. Of course, there's other pro, you know, we, um, uh, we we support and also we, um, give them, you know,
contacts for all of our contacts in the different um, city um, agencies, but we do support both non-public and public school students. So I, you know, I just wanted to just also just emphasize that regarding um our um different uh um or
our different um partners both in big businesses and small businesses. So we're actively recruiting big businesses. This is so I've been in this position for seven years. Um and so uh we've built up our um not only our contacts but our partners within the
last seven years. Um we did smart we did start off with small community based organizations and also um small businesses but it has grown um as I mentioned before you know we um our partners with the NYPD, FDNY, Google, Apple and so we have seen a lot of
success um with um both businesses um big and small. um uh the businesses um more um big businesses such as Google and Apple are very interested in working with students with disabilities and so one of the businesses that um we're
looking to grow and expand our partnerships with JP Morgan Chase something that Rachel and I have been discussing and so many of these um businesses do have um programs and different um uh offices that work with people with disabilities. So, we're
looking at how we can expand that. We also have Metife and other um another big business that we're looking to expand our partnerships with. But this is not just something that we've been working on in the last six months. It's something that we we've been working on for the last couple of years. And so, we
are seeing a lot more interest um in working um in um businesses working with um our student population. And um thanks Jonathan. And I think just to echo what Jonathan's speaking to, I mean similarly in district 75, we're
constantly actively recruiting. So um some of our schools also have individuals who serve in the capacity of what we call job developers and I know at the TCAC al also there are also individuals who are engaged with the community and also at the district level
we also reach out to community partners um whether it's for some youth employment work learn grow or yearround programs and one of the things that I think that we really try to do and I think to answer specifically one of the parts of your question around well how do we make those decision decisions. I
think for us it's there a myriad of things that we consider. Um we always want to first lean into what our students interests are. Um we also want to take um into consideration industries where there are opportunities for students to be employed. Um and we're
talking about students who are both diploma bound and non-diploma bound. Um and then we also want to um and we always try wherever possible when we also think about our we also try to think about the levels of supports that our young adults may need. So that would
inform certain decisions in terms of as Jonathan said, we might start with a mom and pop establishment, but then we may also seek out an establishment that's much larger that may need to that may have the capacity to support maybe five or six students where there could be
on-site support to support that student. So we tend to make those decisions based on what our students needs are. we we try to continuously have conversations and review what industry trends are um because I think it's it's really important and I think this is taken into
consideration uh even when students are collegebound because even when we have conversations with students who are collegebound we try to really anchor it in the context of you know no one goes to college with the intent of sitting at home right so even within those spaces and thinking about things like giving
students access to training that's going to support them with earning the to meeting the requirements with the COS commencement credential. We really just try to make sure that we're very very intentional and making sure that families are a part of these conversations. So these conversations are not happening in silos. It's not
that we put out an application and we reach out to a partner and then families are then just notified. We try to make sure that the students are leading the conversations, we're giving information and that families are also part of the process so that there's a lot of transparency around that. And I would
also like to say that when we also make those decisions, even when students are placed, safety is first and foremost. So even before students are placed in these environments, it's not just um someone saying, "Oh, I'd like to be your partner." We assess the environments. We
visit the spaces. Um we make sure that we're very aware of what the emergency plans are and students are aware of those because we want to make sure that they we treat it as an extension of the classroom. Um and in any of those and and in any circumstance where if a
student is at a site and they may not feel safe or we feel that the environment is not conducive to student learning or student being safe even if a pro a community partner is very interested we will make that decision um
to make sure that it's in the best interest of that young adult. Yeah. Absolutely. Just to piggy back very quickly of what Nie said, um we look at every single student's IEP, make sure that there is a correlation between their interest as you mentioned before,
but we also with our partners, as Natalie said, we you know, we don't just place students, right? We make sure that it's according to their interest, but not only that, we also with each of our partners, we give a um professional development and workshops on how to work
with students with disabilities. so that students are not just placed, right? Um, and again, it's all about going back to making sure that we're working collaboratively with our partners, but our partners are not just partners. We want to make sure that they are um that
they have all of the information and all the training necessary to work for our student population as well. Thank you. Next question is from council member um Esther. This question will be in Spanish. So any translation from
Spanish interpreters, please. Hi there. I have a This is a Spanish interpreter. Uh I have a question. Um, how uh will the organization support uh students that are in the OPWD
uh in terms of uh transition approximately? Let's go ahead. Go ahead, Jonathan. I saw you started. Yeah. No. Um and I think I'm not sure, but um um my Spanish I think the question is how are we supporting
students? that are with transition that have OPWDD support or how do we um get them aligned with OPWD or or through the front door process? Yeah. And I I I think I heard a little bit of district 75 or something. My Spanish is is good.
It's not what it used to be. I still speak. But um Natalie, I'll toss it to you since Yeah. I was just going to ask Mr. Garcia, can you just clarify uh for the parent if she's asking how do we support a student that's already
connected to OPWD services or how do we connect families with becoming eligible for OPWD services? Thank you. Can she hear me? Uh the the the member in the audience,
she should be able to hear you. Okay. All right. uh to how to support uh people that are already in the program or people that will be in the program essentially. Correct. Yes. Okay. Just a moment. Give me one moment, please. Jason.
Okay, I saw Miss Thank you, Miss Miss Garcia typed in the chat. She asked for the students that are not approved for OPWD. Hi. So the question is, how are you going to support students transitioning in district 75 who are in the process of OPWD? Okay.
And for those who are not eligible for OPWD. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, thank thank you for the question. Um, so in terms of and and I know the question is specific to district 75, but it's actually applicable across the board. So, I'll
I'll just answer it quite generally and then um Jonathan can always add. So as it relates to we work very closely with so within our schools um whether it's district 75 and district 75 many of most of our schools have transition team
leaders or a transition point um and or even if there isn't that individual. We work very closely with our our parent coordinators or it could even be someone from my office but we work with families first by having transition planning
meetings. So generally once a young adult um is of transition age, we usually start providing information as early as 12 um to families to let families know what are the the different things that need to happen and the
different processes um and what the young adult may potentially be eligible for. Um we don't just one of the things that I'd also want to call out is that for the last uh this is our third year generally also when every year families also get a letter um that advises them
of um transition for families and what are the different things that happen at different ages. And so one of the ways that we support families we provide families with if families are not connected to an agency we first provide them with a letter. We hold information
sessions to give them information about the different type of providers whether it's OPWDD whether it's access VR whether it's office of mental health whether it's commission for the blind or visually impaired um and then we also part of the work that we also do we
facilitate visits uh to some of these postchool agencies because again families may or may not be familiar with them and we also facilitate workshops One of the things that we do in the transition planning meetings with families is not just say, "Hey, well, I
want you to apply for OPWD for Natalie." We walk them through what OPWD is. We walk them through what the front door process is. We also within the New York City public schools, we have a very strong partnership with the Office for People with developmental disabilities.
So also at many district 75 school-based events or district-wide events or also uh TCAC events we have WDD representatives there um so that they're able to give information to families in
addition if a family is not connected to services at all and they have no idea and they're like this is very overwhelming as I said we walk them through the process but we also connect them to one of the care coordination agencies. So in New York State there are
three care coordination agencies and so we provide families with information. Can we pause for a second? The translating for the translator to catch up. There's a little bit of a lag with theolog. It's not your fault. There's like a technical glitch where it's it's
delaying the translation coming through fully. So just a moment. No worries. Okay. If you can continue now. It looks like it's caught up. Okay, thank you. So, we also provide
families with information on the care coordination agencies. Care coordination agencies are meant to be the bridge between families and OPWD. And so, those are one of the the
processes that we facilitate also. So we don't just give families information about the care coordination agency. There's usually a soft introduction, sometimes a hard introduction because a lot of the times they are visiting schools. They also table at a lot of events and we also often invite the care
coordination agencies to provide presentations for our families. Um also within district 75, um there are all of the workshops. Yes. I apologize for interrupting. Um, could we
possibly have these responses put in some sort of writing? The issue that we're experiencing with the translation, I think, is that the translators are translating the verbiage, but there's context that's missing because of the
um, I guess for lack of understanding of how the DOE operates. So, it's not translating sufficiently to her. So, if we could possibly give her something in writing, that might be helpful. Perfect. No worries. We'll definitely get that information. Thank you. And I'll work with her to get her
questions to you. No worries. Thank you. I just wanted to add that um our relationship with OP DD, we um you know, took a step back and noticed that we could have had a strong that we could have improved our um our relationship
and our um collaboration for PWD. So with that being said, we do meet on a monthly and also if not monthly uh bimonthly um uh uh um session with OPW OPWD leadership and so we are looking at
how we can improve not only services but how we can also improve our leadership so that all students are not only aware of these programs but that we're working collaboratively together to better um have outcomes for our students with disabilities. Um, thank you for that. I wanted to just
um, it sounds like OPWD there's a good a partnership with the district 75 schools. Um, but there's a a a gap um, in our community schools, especially the community schools that house our autism programs. Um, personally, I can speak at
my own school. We have a parent support group for our autistic families. And the first one we probably had like 30 parents there and only three of us um have OPWDD eligibility and most of the parents didn't even know that that was a resource that they could access for
their children. Um so um I'm hoping that there is a way to bridge that gap so that our community schools really can assist parents and it's not just giving them the knowledge, it's also assisting them to get the evaluations that are needed to apply. Um there are very
specific evaluations and psychosocials and things that are needed um to be turned in so they can review for eligibility and the schools actually do have access to some of those evaluations and assessments. And so there really needs to be a better um a better bridge
built. And I and I highlight a autism programs because that's a um um autism is a developmental disability that is eligible for OPWDD services depending on their adaptability skills and things like that. But um I'm telling you my the
parents at my school have no idea that that that that the resource exists, the opportunities that are there. Um, so it I think it's really important to to um hone in on how we can better service community schools uh when it comes to OPWD. The other thing I wanted to ask
was going back to the SY um I was going to talk about travel training because um personally David really helped me think about safe travel for my son. Um he wasn't able to do the travel training but I was able to think about how how our students travel safely
in a in a different way. So, I'm very excited about this pilot. Um, I think it will be really helpful for parents, especially if some of the tips that he gave me are shared. Um, so I'm I'm really excited about that. But back to my SY question, my question is around um
so students that are in a 12-month program, and these are students in community schools and also in district 75 schools that apply for SYP. I've heard from some parents that their child wasn't able to participate in SYP because they had to choose between doing
their school hours for their IEP or doing SY hours and there weren't any internships available for those students after their like school hours in the summer. Whereas for kids on general education or maybe um have their um
promotion in doubt and have to go to summer school, there are they are receiving internships that accommodate their summer school program. So, I just want to make sure that our our IEP students have the same um accessibility um to those types of hours and programs
for SYP. Yeah. So, I'll start off. So, yeah. So, thank you so much for that. Um thank you for that comment regards to travel training and thank you for the question about SYP. So, as it relates to the students in 12-month programs, um so our
contract within district 75, we do support students who are enrolled in our summer school program and so we try to build um their access to summer youth programming around around their uh schedules. Um one of the things again
similar to our year- round programming is we also always want to consider the students abilities um and what the opportunities are available in terms of community partnerships. So there are circumstances where we may we have we've had young adults who if they're participating in standard assessment and
during the school day they are working on um on still earning credits or maybe taking uh taking a regent um we may provide them with a virtual opportunity. Um, one of the
other things that allows us to be a little bit flexible for students who are older, um, generally for summer youth, even though students can work up to 25 hours, we also do have the flexibility for um, half of those hours for young adults to participate in professional
and technical development. So, which allows for students to work less and so then they're able to do, let's say, virtual work, whether it's using a career-based uh platform to learn about career readiness, whether it's doing resume writing or different things like
that. And those are things that we have made available to students um in district 75. And I know um Jonathan's team also makes that available um in districts 1 through 32. So, I mean, and we would always be happy to if there's anyone who says that someone has said to
them that they they're not given that opportunity because one of the things that we emphasize specifically, hence the reason why we're so proud of our contracts is because we're not asking students to choose. We will always prioritize the students working towards uh attainment of their high school
diploma, but we also want to make sure that they have access to that opportunity. And so, we try to work with the students as best as possible. Jonathan Andreas, anything else you wanted to add? No. Um, no. I think you uh you've covered most of it now. So, thank you so much. But also, we have
encountered u this in the past. And so, something that we have worked with with um DYCD is and a and our monitors and our supervisors that supervised the SY program is um if a student can't participate because during the day
they're at a school. So, we've tried to extend the hours, uh, especially the internship and the workbased learning hours. Um, and so we've had monitors who have worked up to, I think, um, 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. during summer, supervise these students. So, um, it's
something that, um, we've looked um, in the past on a case to case basis, but it's something that we're looking at dy working with DY to try to make it more of a a a um, a permanent policy. Um so we we do hear this. We are you know
we're trying and uh we do want to make sure that every single student no matter what their situation is can be uh can participate in the SYP program and that we can support them as well. Thank you. Next question. Uh Karina, you
have a question Karina? Yes I have a question. Well, I have a lot of questions, but I will try to resume. Uh, thank you for the presentation. My daughter is one of those students that is attending
ACES. She will start high school this September. And I bring this up already to the ACES department. uh you would mention that you the all the students with IEPs you you will you
want or you working or you trying that they have working experience before they finish school. Uh but if if these schools with ACES have all these wonderful
programs like culinary arts in it, they are not including the kids in ACES. So how the kids could get the training for something that maybe they
like in this case cooking or baking? Uh I bring this up already to the ACES program that the high school uh is is part of the culinary arts program but the ACS kids are not participating in the program. They said they working in
something for the AC student. I don't know if that will be true or if that will be implemented but I would like you look into that. The other question is um how you will uh
what families will get into that initiative you're presenting for the traveling uh and uh for the students in ACES because well my daughter is in ACES right but she maybe is not still a B
eligible for it I'm not sure if if depending of the age the grade how you will approach the families to with this with this initiative with this program. Thank you. Thank you. Um I think I can take these.
So first I I would love it if you could share um the school information for your child so that we can follow up with uh the ACES staff there and and the school staff really because it sounds like there just needs to be a little bit more collaboration on the use of the facilities on campus and we can support
with that. um because that doesn't make a lot of sense to have those resources and not utilize them. Um but I'm sure there's a reason number doesn't make sense to us, but I'm sure I'm sure we need to to talk it out and and offer some support there.
Um about the travel training. So when I mentioned the the YAI travel training for that is specifically for ACES, that is a training that was provided to the staff. So the students in order to be travel trained still have to be assessed for readiness. There's actually a
process that you get referred for travel training and there's an assessment process where uh the team, you know, um actually observes the student and and uh answers a variety of questions about um their capabilities or areas where they're struggling. Um and students have
to meet a certain criteria on that assessment to actually get the travel training. Um, so, so it's not training that's provided directly to students. So, I thank you for your question because I probably was not clear about that. It's a training for the staff to then be able to provide the travel training to the students. So, we're
basically trying to expand the capacity across the city. Um, our our D75 team goes through extensive training. The the the the travel trainers in D75 are trained for like a year on how to how to implement travel training with students.
and we're doing this with Yi and in just a couple of sessions and you know we're we're providing additional support um on top of that. So it's it's a work in progress but as this comes online more students will be assessed and you'll you'll start to see more opportunities to to have your child go through that
process. But that said any student across the city can be referred for travel training through district 75. So it's not just students in district 75 who who can be travel trained by that team. Um, so if you feel your your child is approaching um, you know, a point
where they need that, you can refer them and and you should be able to talk to your your school about how to do that referral. Um, and I can add I'll put a link in the chat actually with the information about how to refer a child um, for travel training so you can have it if if not now, in the future. Um, so
either of those routes should be available to you. Um, and the parent training pilot this summer, um, is is really going to be a first come, first serve. We're letting families decide if they are ready or if they think their child is ready for
this, they can sign up. Again, about 300 families. Um so we're not putting a lot of criteria around um you know the student because the biggest part of the success of this program is going to be that the parent is willing and able and
and believes that their child is ready. So um that's the the criteria there. But um I hope that answers your questions. Yes. Yes. Thank you. You want me to put the name for the school in the chat or
if you can direct message it to me. I don't want to blast it necessarily to everybody on here, but if you can direct message it to me or share it with um Carolyn, Mark or Rose that can get it to me or Johanna um whatever's easiest for you that it would be great if we could
follow up. Okay, thank you very much. Had um just what Mr. Garcia had um asked about work-based learning programs. So, that's something that we're that we're looking at making sure that every single student has that work-based learning experience. Um we um with our
pre-employment transition services, we just got um once again awarded our work-based learning component. So that's going to allow us and one of our main goals is to support students in specialized programs including ASUS um in other programs. So we are looking at
different ways that we can get work-based learning um uh not only funding but uh working with different organizations to provide that to specialized programs such as ASUS. So, you know, much gracias, Senora Garcia, like we really are looking at at seeing
how we can expand these workbased learning programs for specialized programs and ACES is um also on the top of our list as well as other programs. So, thank you so much for that. And I just want to just add something really quickly. I think um you know we're using the term work-based learning a lot but I
think just to give parents just additional context when we talk about work-based learning we're talking about a lot of different experiences. So we're talking about internships we're talking about volunteering and and I say that to say because sometimes as a parent you
you may say well I'm thinking about my son or daughter. I know what their abilities are. you know, I my son or daughter may not necessarily be someone who in the future maybe will will participate in supported employment or
competitive employment. Maybe your your son or daughter you you know based on their abilities or their needs may be transitioning to a day program. I say that to say that uh irregardless of that there's very great value in students
having access to work-based learning uh experiences because they have opportunities to learn life skills because even when some of our young adults are transitioning to dayhabilitation programs without walls, you know, they're going out into the community. They're volunteering. So
through these work-based learning opportunities, they're increasing and they're learning communication skills. They're developing their interpersonal skills. They're learning to orient and and navigate different environments. Um they're learning about safety. So, I I
just wanted to put that out there so that when you're thinking and you're hearing the term work-based learning, you're not only making the association to whether or not your son or daughter wants to work or is on that trajectory, but thinking of it in the context of a lifelong skill that's going to benefit
that young adult with being successful in life, both in school and outside of school. Okay. Thank you. Um, we have one more qu two more questions from council members. So, Tam, if you have one question, please. And then Maggie, you'll be up next with one
question. Go ahead, Tam. Hi. Thank you so much for this. Um, the work that you're doing is really important. I think I I hear this again and again and again. Um my child is in a 6 to2 school. So I I know a lot of the
you know the high school students who have had zero zero transition guidance from the guidance counselor from their IEP teams. And this isn't just at one school. It's it's at a lot of schools. And I'm looking at, you know, the the
family guide to transition planning online and I I haven't even heard of these things before. I have a 14-year-old. He's almost 15. He's never received any of these vocational assessments, any of these things attached to an IEP notice or a PWN. He's
never been invited to attend like these measurable like postsecary goals. What's that? Um, so I'm I'm I'm just bringing this up because it's not happening. And I don't know how
one strategic advisor um for transition planning and poor dial right can get this done where the schools actually meaningfully do the work. They ignore these kids. It happens time and time and time again. And they push them to drop their
IEPs their senior year, sometimes their junior year, and shift to a 504, saying that colleges won't like it if they had an IEP in the higher grades. So, I'm wondering what work you can do, right, to to make these trainings
mandatory for school-based teams for guidance counselors, um, you know, professional development days because they're not getting the memo at all. Um, so, thank you for your work. I just I feel like there's so much
that needs to get done, right? Yeah. Uh I'm I'm saying ouch, but you're you're right. Um you know, this is kind of the whole uh this is the whole purpose of our
work. And I I like to say uh I shouldn't say it too publicly, but I like to say I want to work myself out of a job. I've always seen this career as uh you know, my goal is to have my job not exist someday. Um, and I say this just to um
to agree with and and hear your your frustration and concern, but also offer a little bit of hope because um I mentioned that our partnership with the Office of Student Pathways, I think that is really our ticket to make this work
happen. Similarly to all of special education across our system instructionally, the way we make that work happen is by integrating with instruction for all students, right? The longer we are this separate thing, the easier it is to marginalize our kids and
to see these things not happen and to make it someone else's problem, right? So the work we're doing now and and where I really see my role and and I say this, you know, this is my commitment to all of you. It is my job to go into the
rooms where the work is happening around like you said guidance counselors. Who's training these guidance counselors? What are they learning? It's my job to say, "Hey, make sure you know that x% of students you are counseling have IEPs and all of these things are realities
for them and their families and they need to know this stuff and integrating it into the structures for all students." So, it's it's not this um you know, I I I am a bit of an idealist, but I don't pretend to think that I can come in and and that Natalie and Jonathan and
I can solve all these problems. it it truly has to be us going into the existing systems and structures that are there for all students um and so that people don't have to seek out extra support from us but that this is something that is is happening proactively. So I know that that is not
the case today. I acknowledge that and um you know we are doing everything in our power to shift that experience and I feel more hopeful today than I've ever felt. you know, I've I've been with New York City public schools almost a decade
now. Um, and I'm seeing, you know, a shift and people are starting to realize, oh, these are all of our kids. Our kids include students with disabilities, multilingual learners, you know, uh, students in temporary housing. These are all of our students. They
don't need to be sent somewhere else for support. Every professional in our system should be equipped with the tools to serve every child. and and and I don't mean to imply that they don't want to. I I truly believe no one gets into education to hurt anyone. Uh you know,
this is work you do because you want to uh support children and families. And um some it's not common sense, unfortunately. Um you know, if you don't have someone in your life or someone you've worked with that has a disability, you don't even think about
some of this stuff. It's it's it's it's not common sense. Even though it seems very simple to those of us who are are familiar with um with the work and with this population and and the experiences um that we all go through but but it's people have to be shown and people have to be given the tools and and feel
equipped to to support people. So that's where we come in and that's what we are trying to do is is offer folks the tools to do this work and um so that that isn't the experience and you know we have a huge system. So, even if we had a team of, I don't know, 50 staff at
Central doing this work, it would still be hard. Um, but we have so many incredible families and we have uh the folks who are here who are trying to infiltrate our systems um and our our
structures to to get the word out and to make sure people are appropriately trained and brought up to speed. So, um, please join us in this work and and do this with us and help us spread the word to schools. Um, I I put my email in the chat a couple of times. I I'm not the
fastest on email because I have a little bit of volume there, but um I I will get back to you and I will follow up on um any individual concerns. And you know, we got to take it one concern at a time and if something is happening at one school, let us know and we will address
it and um and have larger conversations. You know, Chief Corso is is here on the call. She is our direct line to superintendent and and schools across the city. she can, you know, make sure we get that message out and and say this is the expectation and um and hold folks
accountable for that. So, um continue to to keep us in the loop and and let us know when things are not going as planned and and when we'll step in to do everything we can. Sorry, I got on my soap box, Mark. I know we are so far over time. It's all good, Rachel. Um Maggie had one
question about um D75 students. Poor Maggie. Yes, she has been messaging me and I I thought this might naturally come up and it hasn't. Um, a little bit unrelated but also very relevant. Uh, one of the major barriers to employment
is uh a high school diploma, right? And we know that many many students in in district 75 and outside of district 75 are on alternate assessment and may not be on a diploma track. And this is uh it's a barrier. So, we're doing a couple
of things here to address this barrier. The first thing which is uh very far away from implementation but but something we're working on uh figuring out a way to execute is providing a safety net for students who uh want to
to shift from alternate assessment to standard assessment when they get to high school. So, we're working with our policy team to talk about what kind of policy shifts we can make to um uh to make sure students are reassessed before they enter high school if they if they are able to take standard assessment. We
want to push that whenever possible. Not because we don't want kids to have support, but because we realize it is such a barrier to long-term success and we want more students who are capable to be able to take standard assessment and get their high school diploma. um and
and we need some intensive supports. We don't have uh necessarily a a structured safety net type of program for this right now. We do have um you know tutoring and other things that can help, but we need something structured that can really um support kids and and
families going through this shift because it's a big change. Um so we are thinking about that and we are working on it. Uh we're also working with employers and with city partners to think about employment differently of folks who don't have a high school
diploma or who may just have a a credential or a completion credential from alternate assessment because this is you know what what does high school diploma mean when you are working at certain jobs right is that really required for every job? What
is a student walking in who may have graduated on alternate assessment without a high school diploma versus a student with a high school diploma? What is that real difference and why is one so much more attractive to an employer? Um and and and we're talking with employers and we're working with um
folks like uh the Center for Workplace Accessibility and Inclusion through through the Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development um who actually have an active RFP out right now to develop some inclusive workplace um structures in New York City, which is
very exciting. Um but but that work I mention it because it has to happen together, right? We can we can there will always be students who don't get a standard diploma. That's there will always be students who need to take alternate assessment and and don't go that pathway. But we can work with our
employers to say, "Hey, here are these wonderful uh employees who are ready to work. We they've been in work based learning with New York City public schools for all these years. We know they have all these skills. We've helped them develop their resume. They are ready to work tomorrow.
You don't need them to have a high school diploma." and getting some of those norms shifted. Um, uh, P37R, I hope I'm saying that right, Cory Regan school in Staten Island. Uh, they are actually, um, working on an
advisory council at the moment around this exact work. Uh, this is a district 75 school. um where they're engaging employers in their community on this exact issue and they're they're bringing people in to meet their students and show them what they're capable of and
kind of market their kids to the to the employer community in Staten Island. And I think something like that is a really excellent model that could be replicated across um the city in schools. So, I hope once their advisory council is up and running, we can um share that model
wider so that people can mimic that and and hopefully um help bridge that gap as well. So, um Maggie, you know, I feel like I'm a broken record tonight saying we're thinking about it, we're working on it, but that's what we're doing and a lot of this is is in development. Um,
but it is it's frustrating to not have answers and solutions to everything, but it's also exciting that your concerns are very much what we are talking about and what we are working on. So, I hope that we can uh come next year and have uh some some more concrete things that
have happened and and talk about remember when we were so worried about this and that's like a distant memory because we're going to be solving problems. Thank you, Rachel. Jonathan, quick thing on Tacs. Um, Bronx has a TAC transition
fair coming up on May 6th, which is great. Thrilled. It's during school hours and it's focused on schools and students and providers. Question, a couple questions off of that. One, when are the other four burrows having events coming up?
And then two, when are parents invited? because this one is not for parents at all. So challenges, parents need to guide along with schools to guide the student and when parents are excluded and not getting this information, it's a challenge. So you know when when's there
going to be a parent Bronx transition fair and then when we see these fairs at the other four bureaus as well? Yeah. Know, thank you so much for that question. So, um I know that um the Bronx Transition Fair is um scheduled u
from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 300 pm. Um parents and families are invited to these fairs. I know that looking at um working hours is not really um parent friendly, but we have had um we've had
families approximately um looking at the other TCA Burough um transition fairs that have happened throughout the um throughout the school year. We've had more than 50 families attend alongside with schools. Um so the transition fairs do happen throughout the school year.
The rest of the four burrows um transfers spheres did happen throughout um throughout the fall and and spring. Brooklyn had two transition fairs. The last one was last week and it was attended by over um I'm looking at the numbers right now, but it was over 50
families and they had over 30 schools and the keynote speaker was the president of the Brooklyn College. So, um we did have u great um uh I mean it could be it could be a lot better regarding family um uh uh family
attendance. So, we are looking at our um fairs for next year and seeing if um you know we are working with the transition alliance. Um we are you know we do have one in every single burrow but we're looking at having a citywide one and so we're looking at having that maybe on a
Saturday. Um but we are looking at changing the hours of our transition fairs for next year um to be more um parent and family friendly um and have them having them more in the evening. Uh TAKX um we we we do try to have more
than one um transition fair um you know throughout the school year. Uh one of the feedback that we have received and that we are listening to is that the hours are not familyfriendly. So, it's something that we are um looking to change and see um how we can best
support our families um and students um with these transition fairs. So, that's definitely something that uh Rachel and I have been discussing and it's something that's definitely on the forefront of our planning for next year. No, thank you. I appreciate it. And just so you know, the registration actually doesn't even list parent guardian as an
option. So, it's again, you know, it image is everything. Yes. And we've got to make sure at least there's an option. And I get the timing. It makes sense. But, you know, that's just one of those little things and those little details do matter for that. But, I I think it's
great. I'm glad it's the messaging is getting out there about that event. And I'm sorry I missed the other one last week, but really appreciate that, Jonathan. And really appreciate a citywide one on a Saturday or weekend. I think that's great as well. Absolutely. And we have been partnering with the
uft. I know in our Manhattan TCAC transition fair in the fall, we had over 3,000 students attend at BMCC. Um and so uh it's definitely something that um we're looking to perfect and we are so open. I'm very open to um advice and
constructive criticism. Let's work together to make this event go from good to great. And so one something that that keeps on that keeps on coming up is that it's not familyfriendly. And so um as an
uncle um I um you know unfortunately just as a quick personal note um about several several years ago my brother passed away. So I've taken partial guardianship of my nephew. And so the other day I went to a transition fair and I um shared this with um the
transition alliance and I said that you know I was a little overwhelmed which made me take a step back and see how we can perfect our own TEAK transition fairs and so um this one was held on a Saturday and guess what it was enduring when I have a meeting with Rachel or
with Natalie or or with other colleagues. So, you know, it's it's food for thought, but it's something that I'm I've been really really pondering and also looking at all the feedback that we're getting not only from the transitional lines and Alex is on the call, but also from all of our parents
and families as well. So, um we're looking forward to more input for our um for our transition spirits for next year and I thank you so much because um your you know the feedback is something that we really take seriously. So, thank you so much. Thank you. And for all the
presenters tonight, thank you. This was an amazing presentation. Really an eyeopener um and truly needed. Really appreciate teamwork, partnership, and all the great info you gave us. So, thank you. All right. Thank you again for team
dial. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Bye. Next on the agenda is public comment. So, we will open up for public comment. Anyone with the public comment? All right, we have one person um with their hand raised. That's
Heather. Heather, go ahead. Hello. So, um I just want to make it very clear that I'm removing my council hat and laying it down and I'm putting on my public parent hat.
Um because I want to share something that um for me I think is important to share on the public record. So, uh so I want to make a statement on RFK Jr.'s comments about autism. Um, and I I wrote
I wrote this down because I want to make sure everything I wanted to express was there. So, for those who don't know, during a news conference this past Wednesday at the HHS, federal HHS, the presidential appointed head of HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., used these words
to describe the autistic experience and our autistic children. He said, "Autism destroys families. More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. these are children who should not be suffering. He went on to say that these are kids who will never
pay taxes. They'll never hold a job. They'll never play baseball and they'll never write a poem. They'll never go on a date and many of them will never use the toilet independently. Um he consistently speaks of autism as a disease and an epidemic
that needs eradicating. He denies 20 years of science that has found that autism is a complex mix of many factors with one of the biggest factors being genetics. Autism is a spectrum and it's not a linear one. And yes, there are some autistics with high support needs
and they may need support to work, communicate, or play or even use a toilet. There are many autistics who might appear to have lower support needs in areas that are more socially accepted by society. There are many many examples of highly successful autistic people.
Autistics who have doctorate degrees, inventors, teachers, scientists, and artists. The list is endless. Just to highlight one very successful person, widely celebrated by advocates um in the autism community is Satoshi Tahheri. He's the creator of
Pokemon. The Pokemon brand is the world's most valuable media franchise with an estimated all-time sales of over a hundred billion dollars. As the adage goes, if you've met one autistic person, you have met one autistic person. Each autistic person has different support needs in different
areas. This is why the fight for accessibility and inclusion is so important so that every autistic person has access to the unique supports that they need. What RFK Jr. said was hurtful. Autism doesn't destroy families. Not being able to access supports makes autism hard. When
families don't have the support for their children that they need, it causes stress. Autistic folks need access to support in school, in their homes, and in their communities. RFK Jr. describes the autistic experience as suffering. I asked my son last night, "Who's
autistic? Do you suffer because you are autistic?" And his response was, "Hell no, ma. That's just who I am." The suffering comes when people can't access the help and support they need for their children. What RFK Jr. said was also dangerous. When one considers his comments on how people don't need to be
vaccinated because healthy people won't die from preventable diseases. When he speaks about eradicating autism, when he endorses sending people with mental health and ADHD struggles to work farms instead of scientifically researched treatment with medications and therapies, we should all be alarmed.
We've been here before. Since the 1800s, eugenics movement has claimed that humans can be improved through selective breeding. and their idea of the perfect human is always rooted in racism and of phobia and abbleism. It was the basis for the genocide of millions of people
under Nazi Germany. Um disabled people were actually the first people that were sent to concentration camps. The movement was supported by policies and laws supporting involuntary sterilization, segregation, social exclusion. Did you know that it was still legal to involuntarily sterilize
the mentally ill and disabled in the United States until 1970s? And this practice still occurs today in some situations. We can see many parallels to Nazi Germany when our leaders support the eraser of trans folks, autistics, black folks, and immigrants. So when the head of HHS
expounds in a press conference about how he wants to eliminate the disease of autism, endorses removing the frontline defense for preventable illness, and supports sending the mentally ill to work camps, it is incredibly alarming. Therefore, I want to go on public record
saying RFK um Jr. is a threat to our community, to our families, and to our children. He should be removed from his position as the head of HSS. I'll not stand by and let history repeat itself. I'll continue to fight for accessibility and inclusion. And most importantly, I won't stand aside and allow my child to
be eliminated or erased. Thank you. Any other public comments? Okay, we have a motion to adjourn the calendar meeting. We need a motion first. No. Do we have a motion?
No. I want to I want to address what that young mother/parent said. Are we not going to address that? Sorry, we I asked if there was any other public comments and no one responded. I mean, you as the officials, are you not going to address that?
Rhonda, it's public comment. We don't get to address it. It's just public comment. So, Rhonda, if you have a public comment, please I put my comment in the chat that I I hear that I have I hear all I I read all those words and um
I I just I just didn't have words. I put the in the comments that it's horrible that this person will be in charge of the idea and the Medicaid waiver etc. It will be in charge of a special
education. I really don't know how this person could get this job in first place. Uh but that this is the world we live in and it's it's I'm I'm sorry. I it's just that we
we going we're going backward. I don't want to believe it. Thank you, Karina. Is there any other public comment? I have a question. as the city citywide council of special education. Are y'all
taking into consideration that y'all people are very concerned or worrisome about what's going on? I just need to understand that because I just ran for the seat and it looks like to me and what it sounds like to me, it really seems like no one cares. I'm not saying
that you don't, but it seems like it's just a comment and we're not going to take into consideration and generosity and sympathy of the need of this young mother. That's my everybody. Sorry, I can respond and then I think next sorry
Rhonda just to understand Heather is one of our council members. So that was her speaking um and she is a council member. We are certainly very concerned about this. There's no doubt about it and that's why Heather spoke. She spoke on as an individual, but certainly there
are plenty of council members that agreed with her sentiment and statements. Can I may I say something? So Rhonda, I appreciate that you have applied for the council and I hope that you are successful in entering the council. But um this council operates as a community.
So we support we support student with disabilities and Heather's commentary on the comments from RFK are supported in this council. Now the question of are we going to address it the council functions in creation of policy and
working with the DOE office of dial specifically in curtailing programs policies initiatives on behalf of our children. So the answer to your specific question is yes, this does get raised among the many other things that we raise and the new term,
new council members that come in, we hope that would continue to carry that baton, but it is up to your council members in the new term to decide what will be placed in priority for policy pushes and advocacy for students with
disabilities. So I hope that clarifies. I'm so sorry to say this, but I'm a child of the foster care system. That sound just like no disrespect. It sounds like people are covering up their higher in higher places and covering up their higher positions and what they should be
accountable for. That's that's me being born in the system, raised in the system, and adopted in the system. And I feel like instead of us throwing it on other people, the people that is in higher places and higher roles, they need to start holding people accountable. And I don't care if it
takes away from people's jobs, homes, or nothing. This is very serious. But that's just for me. But thank you for sharing. Thank you for your time, Rhonda. Tamara. Yeah. I just want to double down on what Carolyn said. Every single person
sitting at this table works their ass off. for these students because we care and we have them at home. And what Heather read was much needed and beautiful. And today was a really bad day. Sorry, excuse my
language for a lot of kids and a lot of parents. And it's not only autistic children that are being attacked. It's students with disabilities. It's adults with disabilities. It's saying that ADHD
is not based in biology. That we are if you take medication or give your child medication, you're a horrible parent. You should be sent to jail. Your kid should not be on speed. So, I think these are things that we live and breathe every single day. But in terms
of the function of this council, we would write a resolution. We would get it passed. And that's how something like this goes on record. Heather put her speech on record. And now we will officially probably do the same in a resolution. Will the DOE do anything?
Probably not, right? I mean, what can they do? They're trying to stay alive at this point just like everybody else. Um but but thank you for expressing their concerns and they're definitely heard.
So to to add to that, so how the council operates is the methods that we have for protest are through resolutions and then working with elected officials and offices within the city
government. And so the calendar meeting is a place where we do have resolutions. The work on resolutions though happens in the business meetings. So after this meeting is a business meeting and new business certainly there'll be discussions had about quite a few
different things and you know so if you want to stick around for the business meeting please feel free. Um at this point do we have a motion to adjourn? Do we have a second? All in favor? Any
opposed? All right. So we are done with the calendar main for now. It is 8:45 8:50. We will start up with the business meeting. Thank you everybody. Okay. Thank you everybody. Apologize for the delay. We are now ready to start the
CIA Council on Special Education's business meeting for Thursday, April 17th. It is now 8:56. Rose, can we please have roll call? Uh, yes. Um Dr. Sai no show
Carolyn Castro Heather Daly Mark Gonzalez present Shamine is excused Tam Reed Moes Rosar Rosarios Maggie Sanchez present Esa Vasis we do have a All right great thank
you everybody. All right first order of business is the approval of the minutes of March 20th. Rose did send Heather. Sorry. Okay. So, here Rose, I was just saying there's two small
typos um that are circled and I'll get to Rose. Um Christina Fu's name is spelled wrong and there's um athe that should be a. Okay. And Daniel, you you had something to say, please? Sorry, you're doing the name call out.
So, I just wanted to say that I'm here virtually. Thank you, Daniel. Okay. Are there any other adjustments to the meeting minutes? Okay. Barring those changes, then the meeting minutes are approved with the adjustments. Thank you
everybody. All right. Next is the co-president's report. Carolyn, can you hear me? We can hear you. I have two quick points. The first is the town hall followup on the questions. I wanted
to let the council know that we received an email today from Johanna and Johanna that they wanted to meet with us because I inquired about the status of the question submitted so we can give that back to families and put it on our website. they are preferring to meet
with us to have a discussion about the question submitted to which I've responded and I think Mark supported uh no because we can have a discussion but we are not going to have the discussion in place of actual responses because we
have a responsibility to the families that not only show up to the events but ask questions and push for responses. So, we will be meeting with them at some point, but I just wanted to make everybody aware that this is the alternative that is being suggested to which I am not in favor of and it sounds
like Mark wasn't in favor of it as well. Um, but if you have any concerns or comments, please speak to us about that. Then the second was the elections. I attended I moderated rather one meeting and I have since declined any other
meetings any other forums because I do feel even though I have been I have asked face a number of times I do feel that it is a conflict for a current sitting member to hold a forum for incoming members in the next term. Um, I
did ultimately do it because Shamine, who is excused today because she is holding the forum that is currently happening, has been the only person who has been moderating the CCSC forums for the new council coming in. And when I raised questions about the concerns why
we could not and Mark also has raised the same concerns why they cannot find individuals outside of our council to hold these forums, why they can't have district 75 or L or CCHS members who are not reapplying hold these forums so that
we are not interviewing people who are currently in our council and applying for the next term. Um, we have not gotten clear responses to that. Um, there's also been a huge mixup on who
and who is not allowed to moderate. Um, there was an instance where it was highlighted that a member who is reapplying was asked to moderate and we quickly had to address that as well. Um, it's just, you know, I'm just highlighting the overall chaos of this election term and there seems to be much
more emphasis placed on districts 1 to 32 because president's council is involved and is moderating that process. But for the citywides, there seems to be very little guidance, very little flow and management and operational strategy in place of how this is playing out. Um,
there was one more thing I wanted to highlight with that. Oh, and so the gist of it is that I have shared with face multiple times is people who are applying for the citywide councils aren't being given a breakdown of what a citywide council does and how that differs from a local
CEC. Then they're being asked questions with the presumption that they have some understanding of how a citywide operates. But when you hear most of the responses it's very easy to identify that a lot of the candidates don't which is not a problem because at you know at some
point we didn't have the experience but if it is known and identified that applicants who are applying the majority do not have citywide understanding and how that differs from a citywide then it becomes FAC's responsibility to do some proper training or introduction to the
differences of a citywide versus a local CEC because what will happen is you will have a new council come in that could potentially be all brand new candidates not understanding the function of a citywide but expected to operate as a citywide. So then the dropout rates will
increase and the new council will spend the majority of their time trying to find vac fill vacancies and understand quota and understand the roles within the citywide and all of this has been expressed to face but I don't at this point believe face is taking this with
any urgency or seriousness or true understanding of how they can make this better the next goound and I think that is the end of my my share. Thank you, Tam. I was just That's interesting because I
know I went on to watch one of the recent forums for CCSC and I saw you and at first I was so excited. I was like, "Oh my god, hi Carolyn. Um, you're on TV." But then I was like the I didn't understand that we could actually host those forums or run those forums. So I
was like, "Where's the president's counselor? That isn't okay. Like how does this work?" Right? So right now there's that face elections committee working group that some of us are on here and it was scheduled for tonight which is during our meeting where a lot
of us would have liked to bring up everything that you just brought up and once again we don't have the forum pardon the pun to to do that. Um and also just people have dropped out of running too. I just wanted to bring this up because I'll forget. And their names
are not being removed from the candidate list, from the candidate profiles, and probably not the ballot either, which means that that's just not good, right? We need a better system. Also, they're calling us still. Like I know that thank you for the followup on people who had
not received a call for the forum at that very late date, but they're confirming dates and then different people are calling to offer dates after you've confirmed a date. And this has happened like four or five times and that's just me. So I know it's happened
to multiple other people too. Anyways, thank you for bringing that up. It's important like Yeah. Thank you Carolyn. Thank you Tam. Um, I will quickly jump on that and then get to what I originally intended to speak
about. And I think, you know, Caroline and Tammy, your comments are are spot on in terms of we have a meeting today, but at the same time our meeting's happening, there had been a candidate forum for this exact council. The incompetence that is going on at the
face elections group is mindboggling. And then to have at that same time an actual elections meeting to talk about what's going right and going wrong with the election mean is further incompetence by face and their
leadership. It's insane that this is how they operate and think they're doing a good job. And yet the back the pats on the back are are astounding from what I hear because they're so thrilled about having more candidates than last year or two years ago, pardon me. And it's just
mind-blowing at how they think they're doing a good job. And the KPI, the the ways they measure their competence are out of touch with reality. And I'm very disappointed in face and their leadership and their lack of comprehension, lack of skill, lack of
competence. And I am very disappointed in them. And in the leadership, this goes ultimately the chancellor. She was in charge of face before she left the DOE and then came back to be chancellor. So the buck stops at the top. The buck stops with our chancellor who has failed
to do her job once again. And then our chancellor touts at the $173 million that she is bringing back to our prek3 and prek4 students and stu younger students. Mind you, it was her having the back of our mayor who pulled that
money and more out of that budget. Well, let's cheer as a chancellor that she's gained the money back in that was in the budget this year. Even though we're still not getting all of it back, this chancellor has failed our families. She has certainly failed our students. And she continues to fail the city of New
York with her lack of competence and ability to do her job and to support our students. It is mind-blowing. And yet, that isn't as bad as what's going on. We are a time of crisis right now. Absolute crisis in education. We have a president
who appointed the head of department of education to kill the DOE at the federal government, who's gutted the staff of the federal government, who's decided that data and stats and statistics are not important. So, we're going to stop reporting on how schools are doing and
what projects are working and what policies are working and whatnot. We're going to gut the funding for Title One. We're going to gut funding for IDA. We're going to cut special education funding at school level. Then
we're going to go in and say federal policy is what matters. No longer control of local districts is what matters. We don't want local control. The Republicans in Congress and in the federal government want federal control of what you can think and what
you can do. Right? Used to be that we wanted local control when we were Republicans. But now we want the federal government to tell you what you can think, what you can teach, what you can do. It is mind-blowing. In fact, the Republicans were the ones who did not want national ID, but now we hear
they're the ones who want national ID. It's amazing how things have changed. The the party that was against communism now is aligned with the Communist Party of Russia and supports expansion of communist communism in Ukraine and around the world. It's
amazing. The country the the policies of this president are to destroy our country to destroy education and is unacceptable and mind-blowing that this is what the Republican party has become and what our country is in crisis. They
cheer themselves. It's unacceptable and especially to hurt our students. And it doesn't matter what color their skin is, doesn't matter what their religion is, doesn't matter how old they are, but this federal government is saying it doesn't matter. You are not going to get what you need
and what is appropriate under the law. And I am disgusted at our policy makers in both parties for not standing up and doing the right thing. I am disgusted that it's okay and our Supreme Court and court system does not step in. I am
disgusted that we as a community are allowing this to happen. And I am sad that this is the state of America today where we decide that the federal government should control everything. that effectively communism where it's government control
should be the policy of this country where a few should lead and rule the masses. I'm flat disgusted. Thank you for your time. Any other member comments? All right. There's no other member
comments again. Member comments. No. Okay. We're going to move on then to face update. Anthony. Um, the only thing I want to say is reimbursements. Um, make sure we're submitting them. Um, especially if you're submitting for multiple dates.
May and June the system starts getting overhauled with a lot of submissions. So, we just want to make sure we get it in a timely manner so that you get your checks um in a timely manner. Thank you, Anthony, and thank you for your support.
All right. Are there any committee reports for today? Okay. Um, unfinished business meeting scheduled for May and June. May is scheduled to be contracts from for excellence, but I have not heard a peep and Rose is shaking her
head that she has not heard a peep. They were scheduled to, but we haven't heard a thing. And knowing last year they were a no-show. Um, so I'm guessing it's going to be a problem again this year. So that so we were looking at seeing if we could we have
a well no we have that we have the June with with uh with yeah June so June 12th meeting is going to be with Denica Rucks and Christina FOD and it is going to be focused on reading dyslexia um LD
predominantly. Um the May meeting was going to be contracts for excellence. We have a few other feelers out there, but we have not had anything else confirmed. So, we will have to go back and and re-engage with dial and see because we brought up at our last meeting, we had a list of four different topics. So, we
need to see if any of those four are going to be available to slot in there for the May meeting. So, we haven't forgotten about those other topics, but nothing has been confirmed from dial. So, we will reach out on the May. And again, I doubt we'll see contracts for
excellence. Yes, those we had four other topics and we were working with Dial and D was working to see if they could secure people. So, we'll see where we are, but we have not heard back yet. Um, new business. Is there any new
business? So, Heather, go ahead. And I have something. Um, I will probably work on a resolution if folks want to um around what's going on uh that I
spoke about. So, I can start working on something that we can have for the next meeting. And that's where I was going as well. So, we're on the same page as we Yep. But yes, we will. Yep. Does anybody want to co-sponsor with me and work on
it? Yay. We had Carolyn and Tamra raised their hand um saying that they wanted to also co-sponsor um on a resolution related to what's going on in the current events.
Maggie's also got her hand up. Maggie, is that for uh comment or is that to also co-sponsor? co-sponsor. Thank you, Maggie. Okay. Any other new business? All right. Is there a motion
to adjourn? Heather has a motion to adjurnn. Is there a second? All right. Multiple seconds. All in favor abstain. No. All right. We are adjourned. Thank you everybody. Really
appreciate your time tonight as always. And we'll see you on May 15th, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Good night. Good night everyone. Bye. Good night. Thank you.