Page 29 - April Report2022

Resilience
Grant Program Committee meeting minutes (7)
pilot. She said that the school’s Student Accessibility Services office is still adjusting to being
under a new structure. Also, she didn’t want to appear biased toward her previous employer.
Kris expects to be involved in the program heavily in its first year, which will involve a significant amount of training. She estimated about 20 hours of her time per week but acknowledged more discussions would be needed to determine this. Kris left the meeting.
The comments during the Committee discussion were mainly in support of the project, though concerns were expressed that the proposal is complex and involves many people performing different functions. It also involves different departments on campus working together. The program needs a Leslie Pendleton or a Bud Barnes to be the on-campus advocate. The 2 schools were recommended in consultation with Bea. Both she and Kris believe these schools have the necessary support people in place. Bobby would meet with the senior leadership in potential schools to determine institutional commitment. The universities stand to benefit from PACKS because they’re evaluated based on graduation and employment rates. There is also hope that a Ph.D. candidate will be able to complete a dissertation on this program.
The Committee authorized staff to pursue a grant application for a pilot program of the PACKS model.
b. Bridges from School to Work
Malcolm welcomed Tad Asbury, Executive Director of Bridges from School to Work. An application from Bridges had been circulated. Bridges requests $1.25 million over 5 years with a 1:1 match to support capacity building and other enhancements. Also circulated were notes from a meeting Bea, King and Bobby had with Tad in February.
Tad provided an overview of the program, which is in the midst of a transition. Bridges is becoming a separate 501(c)(3) organization from the Marriott Family Foundation, which is restructuring to become Marriott Family Philanthropies. Marriott International has been the provider of back- office services for Bridges, and the organizations share building space. With the separation, Bridges is planning to shift to a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) configuration. The Marriott family supports this change and will continue to be a funder. The Mathematica study is another major step. It will be a randomized control trial involving 1,200 youth, half of whom will be in a control group and the other half in a treatment group. Funding from JSF would extend the study from 2 to 3 years.
Each year, Bridges serves 1,200 youth and produces 400 to 500 new employees for some 5,000 partner companies. Tad hopes to serve more youth in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Separating from Marriott will mean the loss of certain benefits for Bridges, such as discounts at Marriott properties. Other potential downsides are yet to be determined. Tad left the meeting as did King, who serves on the Bridges Board.
The longstanding relationship between JSF and Bridges was discussed. The transition period seems like a time when JSF’s support is sorely needed. There were questions about organization’s efficiency based on the high per-student cost, but it does not seem out of line for organizations that work with this population. One benefit is that Bridges is training employers to work with people with disabilities, thereby expanding the employers’ worldview. Ultimately Bridges is respected and successful at getting people into competitive integrated employment who might otherwise rely on Social Security.
The Committee approved Bridges from School to Work’s application for $1.25 million over 5 years with a 1:1 match to support capacity building and operations across 12 cities; IT enhancements; professional development; measuring and evaluation improvements; extension of the Mathematica NextGen study from 2 to 3 years; and efforts to position key cities like New York and Los Angeles to serve more youth with disabilities.
King returned to the meeting and was informed of this action.
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