Press Conference to Announce Federal Grant to Increase Services Available for Emotionally Disabled Students

The Career Transition Program of St. Luke’s House, Inc. has been awarded a $3.875 million grant from the United States Social Security Administration to assist Montgomery County students with emotional disabilities. The grant will be announced at a press conference at St. Luke’s House on Tuesday, February 26, at 10:30 a.m. A featured speaker will be Dr. Jerry Weast, Superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools.

The Career Transition Program helps high school juniors and seniors with emotional disabilities make a successful transition to college, vocational training, or employment. The program combines the expertise of St. Luke’s House and the Transitions Unit of Montgomery County Public Schools to support the success of these students. Transition specialists and students work together to establish individualized goals reflecting the student’s transition needs. Specialists help to identify career and/or education goals, help with job placement, family support services, and other needs, including benefit planning and assistance.

The grant will partially fund a federal study called The Youth Transition Demonstration Project that is aimed at helping teens succeed in life. The funding will significantly increase the number of students receiving transition services, with an almost threefold increase to nearly 500 youth and their families over the next four years.

St. Luke’s House has been a provider of transition services in Montgomery County for more than 15 years and is one of only three sites nationally chosen as part of this federal grant.