ESPA Releases New Report --The Participation of Human Services Organizations in Mobility Management: Results of a Rapid Response Survey to Human Services Organizations and United We Ride Ambassadors

By Whitney E. Gray

ESPA is pleased to release results from the ESPA Mobility Management Rapid Response Study, in which we sought to understand the participation of human services organizations in mobility management. Prepared for ESPA by the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the study helps identify gaps and uncovers the knowledge level of human service professionals regarding mobility management. 

Two survey instruments were developed to solicit input from human services professionals and United We Ride (UWR) Ambassadors. The human services professional survey was designed for a wide range of professionals representing different human service agencies and organizations on both the state and national level. The second survey was designed specifically for the UWR Ambassadors who provide states and territories with hands-on technical assistance in the development and implementation of coordinated human service transportation. Follow-up interviews were also conducted with the UWR Ambassadors.

The results of the study demonstrated the areas in which human service agencies are already involved and ways that they can become more involved in mobility management. When asked to select the kinds of activities in their work that related to mobility management, the human service participants mostly frequently responded “collaborate with other organizations and agencies” (63%). Almost half (48.2%) of respondents indicated that they served on committees and advisory groups and encouraged stakeholders to participate in mobility management.

Figure 3: Type of Work Related to Mobility Management

In addition, almost 60% of respondents were interested in becoming more involved in national mobility management activities. For the full results of the study, download the report The Participation of Human Services Organizations in Mobility Management for free from ESPA’s website.

New Program Issues Request for Proposals for Inclusive Planning Projects

The U.S Administration for Community Living’s Strengthening Inclusive Coordinated Transportation Partnerships to Promote Community Living program has issued a Request for Proposals for innovative inclusive transportation planning projects. These projects are a key component in the overall program’s efforts to improve consumer involvement and ensure greater responsiveness to consumers’ needs in the planning, design and operation of coordinated transportation systems.

Successful applicants for the inclusive planning projects will involve participants, as well as other key stakeholders, in their programs. Awards will be made through a competitive process to the most qualified applicants who are able to demonstrate experience with engaging and empowering older adults and people with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, in coordinated transportation system planning. The application must cover how consumer engagement will be institutionalized in local coordinated transportation planning, program development and service delivery. Recipients will be expected to share their practices at the national level through the program’s Knowledge Sharing Network and its website.

The Strengthening Inclusive Coordinated Transportation Partnerships to Promote Community Living project is funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living and is administered by the Community Transportation Association of America in partnership with Easter Seals, The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging and Westat. Easter Seals conducted an environmental scan which provided the foundation for this RFP.

Qualified organizations are encouraged to apply by March 20, 2013 and can find the full Request for Proposals here transitplanning4all.org. For all questions related to the Request for Proposal, please contact Virginia Dize at the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (202) 719-8889 or by email at transitplanning4all@ctaa.org.  A teleconference for interested applicants will be held on March 5, 2013 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Call in #: 1-800-245-1683. Pass code: 267438.

Ask the Expert: Nate NeeleyTravel Training Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools

What is your background?

I actually have a background in English and Psychology.  I started my professional career teaching high school English and became intrigued with doing something to assist students with disabilities as I saw they were not receiving all the accommodations and modifications needed to succeed.

How did you become a travel trainer?

I got the opportunity to be a job developer assisting students with disabilities in finding and retaining employment.  I was able to find competitive employment opportunities for my students, but they were not able to travel independently.  Therefore, I began travel training out of a necessity to fulfill my job responsibilities.  I quickly realized the importance of being able to access the community successfully and safely.  It is the fundamental precursor to achieving self-determined transition outcomes in education, competitive employment, independent living and community integration.

What training have you received?

My initial training came from experiences in the field individualizing the process to meet the needs of each student.  I started travel training 17 years ago and was unaware of any formal training.  I have since been educated by ESPA's courses online and received certificates from participating in ESPA's three-day training sessions [Introduction to Travel Training].  However, I do believe that one has to provide this instruction in the community to learn how to be a competent travel trainer.  

Tell us about your current position.

I am currently the Travel Training Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools.   However, I would first like to talk about what precipitated this position.  As a Transition Specialist, I was given the task of creating a Travel Training model six years ago for one of our specialty schools in the district that provides instruction exclusively to students with disabilities.  The principal wanted to eliminate some of the yellow buses servicing the school and most importantly increase the student outcomes.  The school actually had a parking lot specifically for its buses and vans.  That parking lot is now a park dedicated by the alderman where the students can socialize and do composting.  The pilot program was so successful in its initial year that two of our other specialty schools began participating in the second year.  I began advocating to have the program become centralized to have a greater impact on students throughout the district. We have been able to train over 350 students with over a 95% success rate since inception of the program six years ago.  The district allowed us to go citywide this year with the hiring of six travel trainers and I manage the day-to-day execution of the program.  I am currently on a "road tour" presenting at all the case manager meetings to educate the educators on the benefits of participating in this process for our students with disabilities.  I also attend parent group meetings to get feedback and have held a panel discussion in collaboration with the RTA and ESPA for parents, employers, educators and students.  I meet with my team members weekly to make sure we are providing safe and efficient instruction.  The intellectual properties that I created for this program to monitor the progression of a student during training is modified to meet each person’s needs.  I provide case studies and consistently strategize with my travel trainers to make sure the instruction being provided is individualized.  Since this is the first year of our citywide model, a lot of time is spent revising or creating forms, marketing the program and meeting with our legal team to ensure that we are compliant.  I still enjoy being "hands-on" by participating in the environmental analysis of a student's route, shadowing my travel trainers as they implement community based travel instruction with a student, as well as going in the community with them creating scenarios as an exercise in problem solving and implementing contingency plans.

What resources or training tools do you use?

High School Curriculum:  Public Transportation: The Route to Freedom, Pictorial Guide: You Can Ride from ESPA's website, Students on the Go:  A Travel Training Manual, RideWise Program, and Survival Signs Curriculum just to name a few.

How has receiving travel training services affected the lives of students in Chicago Public Schools?

In every possible way imaginable!  I have seen students blossom after being able to travel like their peers without disabilities.  It increases their self-esteem, self-advocacy and self-determination.  The students we have trained access the community for recreational, employment and educational opportunities.  It provides skills across academic and functional areas.  Students become less dependent on family and being able to travel independently accentuates their abilities which breeds confidence.

Any final thoughts?

I am extremely excited about the Transportation Education curriculum ESPA, the Regional Transportation Authority and CPS are currently collaborating to create. This curriculum has the potential to assist in providing knowledge and awareness to students with disabilities, their families, champions of our cause, educators and individuals in the transit industry.

Easter Seals Conducts Environmental Scan for New Project Funded by the Administration for Community Living

By Whitney E. Gray

Easter Seals, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) have begun work on a three-year project titled Strengthening Inclusive Transportation Partnerships to Promote Community Living. The goal of this research and demonstration program is to improve the engagement of people with disabilities and older adults in the planning and implementation of coordinated transportation systems. Launched on October 1, 2012 with CTAA as the lead, the project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living (ACL).

Photo Credit: www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden

The first phase of the project was an environmental scan to learn about the conditions and factors that encourage the engagement of people with disabilities and older adults in the planning and implementation of coordinated transportation systems. Led by Judy Shanley, director of student engagement and mobility management at Easter Seals, the scan will help identify effective practices that other organizations and coordinated transportation systems can replicate.  The scan involved interviews with program representatives including people with disabilities and older adults, from both human services and transportation organizations involved in coordinated transportation systems. The Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL), the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), the Arc, the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) supported the environmental scan by assisting to conceptualize the environmental scan design, conducting interviews, and analyzing findings.  

Easter Seals will also be involved in other phases of the Strengthening Inclusive Transportation Partnerships to Promote Community Living, including through creating a knowledge sharing network and small grants demonstration program. For more information on the scan or project, please contact Judy Shanley. Or for more information on inclusive transportation planning, download or order ESPA’s booklet Effective Transportation Advisory Committees: Creating a Group that Reflects All Community Voices or the information brief Including People with Disabilities in Coordinated Plans.

Increasing Accessibility and Inclusion in 2013

At ESPA, we remain committed to furthering accessible transportation in our nation through the provision of technical assistance on the ADA. Over the past year, we produced over 20 new products, provided on-line and in-person training to over 2,000 customers, responded to roughly 3,000 technical assistance inquiries, and participated in over 70 events (e.g., trainings, large meetings and conferences). We also worked with our partners to further support work on specific initiatives, including youth transportation, the intersection of health and transportation, mobility management, and livability.

In cooperation with the Regional Transportation Authority of Chicago, for example, we launched a pilot program with the Chicago Public Schools Office of Special Education and Supports to implement and assess a comprehensive transportation education program to support the district’s transition services for students with disabilities. In the spring, ESPA managed and operated a national online dialogue on veterans’ transportation. Sponsored by the Federal Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility and the U.S. Department of Defense, the conversation was open to U.S. veterans, service members, their families, community service providers, and anyone else interested. We were honored to be a part of the effort to better understand the transportation needs of veterans and the discussion to improve transportation options for them.

ESPA looks forward to continuing to work with communities across the U.S. and our Federal partners in 2013. As a Federal Transit Administration technical assistance center on the ADA, we remain deeply committed to helping communities expand and develop transportation services that work for everyone in the community. As a transit director wrote to us this summer, “Our fixed-route driver training program was taken directly from ESPA's website as well, and has had a tremendous effect on how our drivers view all of our riders (not just the ones with visible disabilities).”  

Please visit our website, use our materials, attend our trainings, network with us at events, and let us know how we can continue to improve and expand what we do. We wish everyone a happy new year and look forward to supporting your communities as they further independence for all through fully-coordinated, accessible transportation systems!

Mary Leary

Vice President of the Easter Seals Transportation Group

Rural Topic Guide Series – New Resources for Rural Transportation Planners and Service Providers

At the time of the 2000 U.S. Census, approximately 27% of Americans lived in rural areas.  Ten years later, a Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) brief identified that 38% of rural residents live in areas with no public transportation. These statistics speak to the need for transportation options in rural communities.

2011 Accessible Transportation Coalitions Initiative, Southwest Colorado

Transportation providers and public agencies in rural America continually weigh priorities and make decisions about how to most efficiently use limited to funds to offer more transportation services for a growing older adult population, workers traveling longer distances to reach non-agrarian employment centers and increasingly larger ethnically diverse communities working in farming regions. In an effort to increase the number of rural transportation resources available, Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA), the National Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) and the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST) are collaborating on a rural topic guide series that includes an introductory overview of recent rural population and economic statistics and three topic guides on areas related to analysis or the provision of rural transportation. 

 ESPA’s topic guide is the first to be released and focuses on conducting community assessments in rural areas. Drawing from three models from the eastern and western U.S. (upstate New York, Connecticut and northern California), the guide provides examples of how communities can approach needs assessments, determine gaps in service and involve representatives from the community during the process. In tough economic times, putting rubber on the road and providing essential services is foremost in the minds of small rural operators. Taking the time to conduct assessments may be considered a luxury, especially with limited staff.  The topic guide offers basic options to consider--from conducting short surveys and reaching out to local universities for student assistance with research to local agency participation in statewide plans. Putting financial and human resources into community assessments, while not always a top priority in rural areas, can pay dividends in the future through the development of more efficient service routes and a greater sense of community and passenger involvement and the identification of where to focus public resources in the future.  

The Rural Topic Guide Series Introduction and the ESPA Topic Guide #1 on Community Assessments are available as downloadable PDFs and rich text documents from ESPA’s Resource Library.

Fall Update Newsletter Focuses on Students--Now Online

By Whitney E. Gray

Two students at a fare machine on a bus

The 2012 fall edition of the ESPA Update focuses on the transition of students with disabilities to postsecondary settings, with an emphasis on how accessible transportation can support positive transition outcomes. ESPA has launched many student engagement projects over the last year and we are excited to share information about the work with you in this newsletter. Download the Update.

Articles include:

• ESPA Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program: Integrating Transportation Content into Teaching and Learning
• Directions and Perspectives: A Focus on Accessible Transportation to Support the Transition of Students with Disabilities to Post-School Settings
• Ask the Expert: Learning How to Use Public Transit
• Technical Assistance for School Systems Looking to Partner with Local Transit
• Join the Accessible Transportation for Students Online Community
• ESPA Partners with Pupil Transportation Organizations to Promote Transportation Education
• ESPA Introduction to Travel Training
• Latest Research
• ESPA Partners with AMA and CDC-HAN to Provide New Resources
• New Web Resources for Information on Accessibility
• Update on 2012 ATCI Teams
• ESPA’s Autism Initiatives

The Update is now available online and will arrive soon in your postal mailbox along with a copy of the Including People with Disabilities: Communication & Meeting Etiquette Pocket Guide as well as the Planning for Transportation After Medical Services Pocket Guide, a joint effort between the American Medical Association and ESPA, which will be available for order online in late 2012.