In their round-up of the news, Queens Gazette published a short article on the launch of ICD’s new “School to Success” program that is designed to help youth with disabilities transition from school to career success. In the piece, Queens Gazette highlights our first two school partners, Discovery High School in the Bronx and Richmond Hill High School in Queens.

The article, titled “Help Disabled Youth Transition from School to Career" can be read below or found if you click here and scroll to the education stories near the bottom of the page.

The Institute for Career Development (ICD) announced on Sept. 28 the launch of the initial phase of a planned citywide initiative to help youth with disabilities transition from school to career. Tens of thousands of students with disabilities leave public high schools every year only to find themselves face to face with a gap where the services they depended upon to finish school had previously been. This new initiative, created by ICD while working with the nonprofit consulting firm The Bridgespan Group, is designed to bridge this gap by providing services that enhance college and career opportunities for youth with disabilities.

The initial phase of this initiative consists of a pilot program in partnership with Discovery High School in the Kingsbridge Heights section of The Bronx and Richmond Hill High School in Queens. With the start of the new school year, ICD now has on-site at each school a full-time “Navigator” available to work with any student who has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan to prepare the student to make the jump to college or vocational training and embark upon a career. The Navigators, whose services are available at no cost to students or schools, will guide students around obstacles and over hurdles as they work to build skills needed to launch fulfilling careers.

The Navigators are supported by ICD’s full-time Transition Services Manager. She will split her time between school sites, amplifying the services provided by the Navigators and operating as the primary point of contact for school staff and parents of program participants. ICD staff will also work with each school to develop employer partners within their communities to provide work experiences for their students.

The Institute for Career Development is a New York City-based, not-for-profit, workforce development organization, whose mission is to help people transform their lives through career development and employment. A leader in the field of vocational rehabilitation since its founding in 1917, ICD specializes in serving people with barriers to employment – providing vocational evaluation, career planning services, job skills training programs, internships, and job placement services to youth and adults with disabilities.

Discovery High School’s mission is to prepare students for the rigor of college and life after high school. Students learn how to learn, how to think about their own thinking, and how to acquire the necessary skills they will need to be successful in the world of tomorrow.

Richmond Hill High School’s mission is to promote young adults who are happy, goal-oriented, well-adjusted, and academically prepared to face the challenges of the future and to contribute significantly to societal progress.

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