PROJECT PEACE: PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT AFTER HIGH SCHOOL THROUGH COMMUNITY EXPERTISE

Molly Taylor
Seb Prohn, Ph.D.
Partnership for People with Disabilities
Virginia Commonwealth University

This project was supported, in part, by grant number 90DNCE0004-01-00, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201.

WHAT IS PROJECT PEACE?

Promoting Employment After high school through Community Expertise

OUR VALUES

- Leading our research are people of color and people with disabilities
- Rooting conversations in lived experiences of our community members

OUR APPROACH TO COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT

- Multi-method Research Approach
- Understanding Community Contexts

RESEARCH METHODS

1. Secondary Data Review and Analysis
2. Business needs assessment survey
3. Community Conversations
4. Photovoice

SECONDARY DATA REVIEW & ANALYSIS

Strategies for finding sources:
1. Build a team of researchers with varying strengths and knowledge
2. Reach out to research and community partners for documents, reports, and papers
3. Look in unexpected places (school division websites, appendices in other reports, etc.)

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

- Method
  - Recruitment
    - Who do you invite?
  - Session structure
    - 2 breakout sessions, whole group harvest
- Challenges
  - IRB Approval

"I really enjoyed this morning, how we opened up the session with individuals telling their story"

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Barriers to Employment:
- Accessibility
- Attitudes/Mindsets
- Lack of Resources

Solutions for Employment:
- Changing attitudes/mindsets
- Supporting Educators
- Supporting Employers
- Supporting Youth
- Using Technology

NETWORK ANALYSIS

(Diagram of solution themes and their sub-themes)

Supporting youth
  -> Community partnerships
  -> Education
  -> Mentorship

Supporting employers
  -> Partnership/relationships
  -> Education
  -> Mentorship

Supporting educators
  -> Education
  -> Collaboration

Changing attitudes/mindsets
  -> Education
  -> Community partnerships

PHOTOVOICE

- Method
  - Recruitment
    - How do you get youth to participate?
  - Session structure
    - 6 sessions
- Challenges
  - Recruitment
  - Engagement

PHOTOVOICE SESSIONS

Registration Meeting
- Answering Questions
- Parental Consent

Session topics and activities:
- Project Overview
- Consent Discussion
- Telling Stories
- Camera ethics
- Taking a good storytelling picture
- Introduce Topic 1
- Small Group Discussion (~20 minutes)
- Taking quality pictures
- SHOWeD Questions
- Introduce Topic 2
- Small Group Discussion (~20 minutes)
- Whole Group
- Next Steps of Project

CHALLENGES TO COMMUNITY-ENGAGED RESEARCH

- Researcher-Participant Trust
- IRB/Timeframe
- Creating your research team

TAKEAWAYS & STRATEGIES

- Centering the voices of youth with IDD
- Strengthening Community Partnerships

THANK YOU!

Feel free to reach out and follow along through these platforms:
projectpeace@vcu.edu
smprohn@vcu.edu
taylorml9@vcu.edu
@ProjectPEACE_VA
@projectpeace_va

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