New York, NY – March 30, 2022 – The Institute for Career Development (ICD) announced today a partnership with Discovery High School in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx. The partnership launches a new initiative that will grow to be citywide 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 on to finish school had previously been. This new initiative, created by ICD, is designed to bridge this gap by providing services that will enhance college and career opportunities for youth with disabilities.

Through this initiative, the 105-year-old Institute for Career Development will work with high school students with disabilities to prepare them to make the jump to college or vocational training and start their careers. ICD staff members will serve as navigators for individual students to guide them around obstacles and over hurdles as they work toward building the skills needed to launch fulfilling careers.

ICD identified this citywide gap in support for youth with disabilities while working with the nonprofit consulting firm The Bridgespan Group on a new strategic plan and is now shifting its focus to bridge that gap. ICD has similarly adjusted its focus at different intervals in the past, always retaining its commitment to people with disabilities but adapting to contemporary priorities. Most recently it has focused on vocational evaluation, career planning, and job training and placement primarily for adults with disabilities.

“ICD is excited to be working with Discovery High School to launch this much-needed new initiative,” said Diosdado Gica, ICD President of Programs and Operations.

“This new initiative will help students with disabilities to better understand how to advocate for themselves and successfully navigate their way through the complex systems of services and supports available to them after they leave school,” said Joseph T. McDonald, ICD President of Development and Communications. “It offers enormous potential to build the self-confidence, resilience, and agency that they will need to continue overcoming the biases and barriers to employment that they will face as adults.”

“Discovery High School is pleased to help launch this new initiative,” said Rolando Rivera, Principal of Discovery High School. “It will benefit our students greatly by providing long-term, holistic support through their high school years and beyond that we believe will lead to greater self-determination, better economic mobility, and improved overall well-being.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Henry Miller at hmiller@highimpactpartnering.com.

About ICD

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.

About Discovery High School

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.