REGIONAL ACCESS MOBILIZATION PROJECT INC

Everyone has the right to achieve their full potential and this starts with a solid education. RAMP works with students and their families to learn the laws that protect the rights of a student with a disability, how to navigate the maze of community services, and to learn the skills required to achieve their goals. Youth Education & Advocacy Services are for students with disabilities and their families who require information, referral, self advocacy training, or peer support to ensure that they receive a fair and equitable education so they can achieve their full potential during their school years and as they transition to adult life.

SERVICES PROVIDED
• Educational rights training
• Self-Advocacy Skills training
• Information & Referral
• Peer Support
• Independent Living Skills training
• Transition Planning guidance
• Educational workshops
• Assistance with letter writing
• Attendance at IEP, 504 or other related meetings

Provides services and purchase items to establish a home in the community. The goal is to identify the services and support systems that a nursing facility resident may need in order to move into his or her own residence and to live independently again.

Persons Served: Individuals with disabilities living in a nursing home who desire to move back into the community.

Admission Criteria:
• Have a documented disability – physical, mental, cognitive, visual, hearing etc.
• Have a barrier to returning to the community
• Any age
• Live in an Illinois long term care or rehab facility, institution, CILA, or assisted living
• Have income to support costs of community-based living (i.e. SSI, SSDI, etc)

Services Provided:
• Locate and secure affordable housing
• Assist with the first month’s rent and security deposit
• Provide household items
• Provide assistive equipment and devices
• Arrange for home remodeling to ensure independent safe functioning
• Provide training in independent living skills
• Make referrals of personal assistant services
• Provide personal assistant management training
• Provide case management
• Provide advocacy
• Peer support

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Community Education
RAMP’s presenters use real life experiences to help others understand that having a disability is just another aspect of life. We recognize the importance of being able to provide high quality trainings to individuals and groups seeking a better understanding of how to make the community more inclusive. RAMP’s passionate, dedicated staff is available to train any audience on a wide range of disability awareness topics including (but not limited to):
• RAMP Services
• ADA Laws & Regulations
• Disability Etiquette
• Disability Awareness
• Disability Sensitivity
• Accessibility Guidelines

Technical/Accessibility Assessments
Businesses who are concerned about their compliance with the ADA, or who wish to improve accessibility of their business for their employees or customers can contact RAMP for free technical assistance. RAMP staff are available to conduct an onsite Accessibility Assessment and suggest modification in written form, if desired, based on the Illinois Accessibility Code and the Americans with Disabilities Act – a fee based service.

Providing total access to your customers is not only the law, it is good business.

These services lay a foundation for high school students with disabilities to reach their full potential by encouraging enrollment in college, preparing for employment or career opportunities, and preparing for independent living. These services can be provided in a group setting or via individual instruction. Services include exploring student’s options for post-secondary education and/or employment by gaining job seeking skills, finding job shadow or internships in the community, and/or obtaining community employment while still in school. The goal is to leave students with the tools needed for a successful transition to further their education and/or employment desires.

ADMISSION CRITERIA
• Willing to enroll in the State of Illinois Vocational Rehabilitation Program
• Have a documented disability (IEP, 504, medical/counseling records)
• Ages 14 through 21
• Enrolled in an education program

SERVICES PROVIDED
• Career exploration
• Soft/Essential skill training
• Transportation training
• Job seeking skills training
• Job shadow/volunteer opportunities
• Apprenticeship/Internship opportunities
• Resume development
• Master application development
• Interview skills training
• Peer Support
• Benefit planning assistance/referral
• Mentoring on post-secondary education & certification opportunities
• Independent living skills training
• Self-Advocacy skills training

The RAMP offices located in Stephenson & DeKalb Counties are ITAC selection centers providing telecommunications access to people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Late Deafened, Speech Disability, and Deaf-Blind. This is accomplished by providing the Illinois Relay Services and issuing equipment that range from amplified telephones to Braille phones. Bluetooth/cellular capable devices are now available through ITAC.

Eligibility Requirements include:
• You must be a legal resident of the State of Illinois.
• You must have working land line telephone service at the address on your application form.
• You must be certified as Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Speech-Dis
abled or Deaf-Blind by: licensed physician, speech-language pathologist, audiologist, or designated DHS/DRS counselor.

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All of RAMP’s services are available with the assistance of RAMP’s Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing Advocate. In addition to consumer support, the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing Advocate is available to educate the community-at-large though custom designed presentations or sensitivity to: a means to communicate with individuals who are deaf and/or hard-of-hearing; deaf culture; and how to locate communication accommodations.

For more information about deaf services please contact RAMP.
Voice and Captel Users: 1(877)243-2823 then dial (815)968-2401 and hit # key
Caption Call: (815)968-2401

RAMP’s Employment Services (ES) has been providing assistance and support to people with disabilities seeking employment through the Ticket to Work program (see Employment Network below) and otherwise since 2012. All employment services are geared toward community-based, integrated employment. Peer support and mentoring are significant aspects of the services participants receive from ES. In fact, a majority of our ES staff have personal experience with disability and some of us have been on Social Security benefits at some point in our lives. You can take comfort in knowing that we understand the questions and concerns that you may have about returning to work because we have been there. You will receive support and encouragement from people who have left benefits and successfully returned to the workforce.

If you are in current pay status under the Social Security Administration’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs and are between the ages of 18 and full retirement age you are eligible for services through the Ticket to Work program. RAMP is an Employment Network with the Ticket to Work Program and has a contract with Social Security to provide services. This program is strictly voluntary on the part of the consumer/beneficiary. Employment Network also has the option of whether to accept a consumer’s ticket.

RAMP will provide the following services: benefit counseling, job readiness, job development, and case management.

• Benefit Counseling
RAMP Employment Services can link you to a Certified Work Incentive Counselor that serves all of RAMP’s counties. The CWIC will evaluate the consumer’s past and current SSDI/SSI benefits and ensure that the consumer understands how working will affect their benefits.
• Job Readiness
RAMP will work with the consumer to determine abilities and skill level, prepare a resume, arrange and conduct mock interviews, arrange job shadowing with community partners, provide information on local transportation systems to get to a job and make sure the consumer has an appropriate wardrobe.
• Job Development
RAMP will develop an individual work plan (IWP) for each consumer and then assist them in locating potential employers.
• Case Management
Once employed, RAMP will maintain regular contact with each consumer to assist with barriers to work, regular problems at work, opportunity analysis for promotion and continuous benefits counseling, as needed.

Project SEARCH is a unique, business led, one year school to work transition program that takes place entirely in the workplace. The selected students will work in three internships over the course of the year in combination with classroom instruction, goal setting, career exploration, and hands-on training through worksite rotations. Each student works with a team that includes their family, an instructor, a department mentor, rehabilitation counselor and employment specialists to create their employment goal and to support the student during their transition from school to work.

• Admission Criteria
o Be 18-21 years of age
o Referred by a participating school district
o Have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan)
o Ready to graduate upon completion of the Project SEARCH program year
o Strong desire to achieve a job in the community
o Family support

• Worksite Rotations
Each student participates in three internships supported by an onsite employment specialist and supervised by an on-site manager. A special education teacher oversees the students’ IEPs and provides daily classroom instruction at the beginning and end of each day.

Project SEARCH internships at host sites are unpaid, similar to other internship programs, but are individually created to focus on each student’s interests and work potential. Sites include:
• Pharmacy
• Operating Room
• Central Distribution
• Human Resources
• Environmental Services
• Food Services
• Sterile Processing
• Pediatrics
• Mail Room
• Cancer Center
• Pain Center
• Physical Therapy
• OB GYN

• Classroom Curriculum
Throughout the school year, students participate in a functional academic curriculum that stresses employability and independent living skills. Major classroom focus areas include:
• Team Building
• Workplace Safety
• Technology
• Self Advocacy
• Maintaining Employment
• Financial Planning
• Health & Wellness
• Preparing for Employment

We assist people with disabilities in learning how to use public transportation. RAMP believes that this is an important skill for people with disabilities to learn so that they can be productive members of their community and get the services that they need in their community. (The services provided in Rockford and Belvidere is a cooperative effort with the Rockford Mass Transit District.)