Agency: Dade County

[SA 1001]

All individuals change over time. This is also true of the developmentally delayed adult. The Seniors Program of UCP (United Cerebral Palsy) was created to give the elderly developmentally delayed population of the UCP sheltered workshop the opportunity to enhance the quality of their lives by choosing a semi or full retirement program. In the past, these clients worked a full day and had some academic or social skills classes scheduled throughout their workweek. The need became apparent for a special program that could allow these aging clients to work less and have more time for social and recreational pursuits.

At the inception of the program in September 1990, all UCP workers 45 years of age and older were surveyed to see if a desire was present to semi-retire and join a Seniors program. It was explained to each interested client that he or she would continue to work in the morning from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. but then spend the rest of their day in social and recreational activities.

Twenty-one clients were inducted into the Seniors Program in September 1990. The program has remained in place to date with modifications made to meet the clients' wants and needs.

The Seniors are transported by van to the sheltered workshop of UCP on a daily basis. They arrive at 9:00 a.m. and leave at 2:30 p.m. All 21 Seniors are seated together in one large classroom. Seventeen of the twenty-one students have chosen the semi-retirement program. They work (on piecework) from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and are paid biweekly according to their rate of production. Four students have chosen the full retirement program and participate in a small group activity at that time. After lunch at the Center, the teacher guides all 21 Seniors and teacher's assistants in varied recreational activities based on a daily schedule. These activities include: jigsaw puzzles, bingo, outdoor games, arts and crafts, music, exercise, cooking/nutrition, movies and group discussions. Field trips are scheduled twice a month. One is usually educational or recreational in nature, and the second is a social visit to an elder care facility in the community.

Each student has an individual plan (IHAEP) that is developed yearly by the interdisciplinary team composed of the student, teacher, social worker, teaching assistants, ancillary staff and any family or community member that the client chooses to invite. This plan is revised and reviewed at least once during the year and is used to generate data sheets which notate the student's daily progress with specific objectives.

Since the concept of a program designed to meet the needs of the aging developmentally delayed student is an emerging one, a large percentage of the curriculum used in the Seniors Program cannot be found in a single published manual or textbook. Most of the curricular ideas and materials are gathered from many sources and adapted by the teacher to meet the needs of the program. A wide scope of teaching strategies and techniques are used to address each client's individual requirements. Materials appropriate for older developmentally delayed learners, which address various levels of physical and mental abilities, are required to help each Senior enhance the quality of his or her life.

The Seniors Program is a cooperative venture between UCP of Miami, Inc., and the Miami Springs Adult Center. Each Senior is a Dade County Adult Basic Education student. The majority of clients are placed at UCP and funded by HRS/Developmental Services.

UCP provides classroom space, supplies, utilities, transportation, a teaching assistant, a social worker, and support staff as needed.

Miami Springs Adult Center provides a teacher, a part-time teaching assistant, and a stipend for materials.

The success of the Seniors Program at UCP has occurred due to the efforts and strong commitment of United Cerebral Palsy and the Miami Springs Adult Center. The blending of resources and staff has facilitated the establishment and evolution of this very unique program.

Agency: Miami Springs High School, Dade County

[SA 1002]

This program provides a model for delivering adult general education classes to older adults residing in a retirement center, convalescent facility or nursing home. Classes are individualized in line with residents' physical and mental abilities and based on their interests and learning goals.

Teacher staff and nursing home staff work together to integrate the education program into the nursing home environment. An individual education plan (IEP) is developed for each student and revised each trimester according to his or her changing needs, interests, and abilities. Class content and learning activities are designed to address the residents' varying levels of physical and mental abilities, using materials appropriate for older learners. Prospective teachers are screened for their ability to teach effectively in the nursing home environment, and new teachers are paired with experienced teachers for on-the-job orientation and training. Funding is provided by Florida Educational Finance Program (FEFP) local district funds.

Agency: Florida Council on Aging

[SA 1003]

Goal: To form a coalition among Area Agencies on Aging (AAAS) in Florida to increase participation and retention rates of older persons in literacy and adult education programs.

Background: Florida sets the pace for the rest of the nation with its older population; 24% of Florida's citizens are age 60+. A 1994 Literacy Needs Assessment commissioned by the Florida Department of Education reported that over half a million (504,404) of these age 60+ Floridians have completed eight or fewer years of school (1990 U.S. Census).

The infrastructure for addressing the problem of low educational attainment in older citizens is presently in place. It includes existing government and private/non-profit and for-profit agencies, community-based organizations, professional associations, and volunteers. The coalition of 11 AAAs would identify strategies for accessing existing programs and services, and implementing or expanding the current delivery of literacy training for older Floridians. Linking the aging and literacy sections is a key factor in reaching goals. Contact: Menza Mitchell (904) 222-8877

Agency: Hillsborough County/Hillsborough Association for Retarded Citizens

[SA 1004]

With the "graying of America" there has been a need to provide "retirement" services to developmentally disabled adults. This population traditionally is employed in a workshop setting. However, with increasing life spans, even this population needs services past their productive years. The clientele for this program, therefore, are developmentally disabled adults, age 45 years or later. They are ambulatory, have few or no behavior/medical problems serious enough to preclude them for participation in this program, and are toilet-trained. In this particular program, clients are "dually enrolled" that is they are clients of H.A.R.C. and adult education students. That is not, however, a requisite for operating this program.

Clients attend the program Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The program requires its own room, or building with a ratio of six clients to one teacher or aide. This program involves the retirees in the community by providing day trips most days of the week. Transportation is needed, and must be available at all times. This is an on-going educational experience in a non-didactic setting. Learning is experiential, where social and life skills are enhanced and reinforced from moment-to-moment by the teachers and their peers. The "classroom" is a museum or theater, restaurant or movie, bowling alley or shuffleboard court. The goal is to ENRICH, EDUCATE, AND ENTERTAIN, utilizing the community and its resources. At times when clients are at the center, any number of activities can be engaged in at one time--such as watching television, working on a craft project, playing table games or simply having a conversation. Community involvement and awareness of community resources are necessary in order to achieve success for this program. The program is funded through cooperative efforts with the School Board of Hillsborough County, the HRS Developmental Services Program Office, District Six, and the Hillsborough Association for Retarded Citizens (HARC). Staffing is provided by the School Board of Hillsborough County and HARC. Needs assessment tools, some standardized and one developed by HARC, uses a 3-year assessment form which evaluates each individual in each of the major domain areas. This tool establishes a longitudinal baseline that evaluates progress for a three-year period. The program, thus far, continues to grow in its popularity by diverse activities, and now, by size. Donations by the community (business, restaurants, churches, etc.) continue also to be a measure of the program's success.

Agency: Dade County

[SA 1005]

The Intergenerational Senior Adult Child Care Aide program was designed in order to meet a community need to recruit individuals to serve as child care aide in the school district's child care, pre-k programs and community agencies (Headstart, Family Christian Association of America, Young Men's Christian Association and Young Women's Christian Association). Personnel resources for these positions have been declining due to the traditional source of young women and mothers entering the job market for increased salaries. While on the other hand, Dade County's senior citizen population continually grows. This scenario created an ideal atmosphere to initiate a recruitment campaign to encourage senior adults to become childcare aides.

The projects which utilized senior adult aide reported success in terms of the children's positive emotional adjustment, and interactions between the young and elders. Senior adults are recruited through a collaborative effort between Hialeah Adult Education Center, civic and professional organizations, retirement centers, religious institutions, and adult community centers within the community. The senior adults participate in the 20-hour HRS child care training program and complete applications for part-time non-instructional personnel positions. After the completion of the training, the senior adults are assisted in employment placement with the school's district after school care program and/or child care programs (Headstart, YMCA, YWCA and FCAA) within the community. Dade County Public Schools operate approximately 200 after-school care programs, the majority of which are fee supported. At the completion of the training, senior adults are referred to the various after-school program administrators in their geographical area.

The advantage of the Intergenerational Senior Adult Child Care Aide Program is that this effort provides trained, licensed, and processed potential employees for them to hire. By this advantage, we are recruiting and employing a target population of adult seniors who have often been discriminated against because of their age.

Agency: Leon County

[SA 1006]

Target Clientele: Senior adults residing in a nursing home or adult congregate living facility. Also included are senior adults attending adult day care centers and congregate meal sites.

Program Objective: To provide the senior adult with essential skills or knowledge that will enhance the senior adult's quality of life.

Program Format: Classes are conducted at nursing homes, congregate living facilities; adult day care centers and congregate meal sites. The Life Skills Curriculum for Senior Adult Learners and the Life Skills Resource Guide for Adult Learners are utilized as the basis of instruction. The curriculum is based on the State of Florida, Department of Education's Adult Basic Education Curriculum Framework and the Adult Life Stages Curriculum Framework and Performance Standards.

Instructional topics included in the program are consumer education, coping skills, creative living, enrichment, expression, health education, history/social science, language arts, life science, math, and physical/earth/space science.

The effectiveness of the program is measured by responses from teachers, facility staff, students, students' families, HRS and the general public.

With 33.5% of Florida's adult population over the age of 55 and this age group experiencing the most rapid growth, the needs of this population must be addressed. The Florida Comprehensive Plan for Better Living for Seniors, 1989, indicates that one in six participants in adult education programs are age 65 and older and, yet, these seniors have educational needs that are not being met. As this population continues to rise, a growing need exists to provide more and more educational programs, social service and leisure programs. Contact: Patricia McDonald (850) 922-5343

This program is funded through the Florida Education Finance Program.

Agency: Leon County

[SA 1007]

The Senior Adult Learner Curriculum and Resource Guide is designed to improve adult basic education programs and address the educational needs of the elderly by providing a curriculum that will enable teachers and administrators to provide quality educational activities on a daily basis and, at the same time, trace individual progress toward achievement of adult basic education student performance standards. The curriculum is based on the Adult Basic Education, Functional Skills and Adult Life Stages, Florida Department of Education Curriculum Frameworks and Performance Standards and will provide the accountability as mandated by the Florida Legislature to ensure the continued success of ABE-Elderly programs.

Leon County Schools Senior Adult Learners Program seeks to provide senior adults with valuable academic and life skills that will enhance their lives by involving them in intellectual interests in a changing world. The Senior Adult Learner Curriculum and Resource Guide contains major content areas that include objectives, activity sheets, suggested reinforcement activities and a resource list. Teaching strategies, skills assessment and planning tools, and Department of Education curriculum frameworks are included to offer support for the teacher. The teacher training module, assessment tools and the application of the content area to state frameworks assists administrators in providing quality programs, as well as accountability for instruction and funding.

Florida has the fastest growing older population (65+) in the nation, and this group will probably account for 24% of the statewide population by the year 2000. Recent research, conducted by the National Institute on Aging, 1992, showed that cognitive training does improve the intellectual abilities of older adults and that cognitive ability is enhanced and retained through education classes. In view of these statistics and available research data, adult educators in Florida must address the educational needs of older Floridians. As this age group continues to increase, so must programs and services designed to help older citizens improve and maintain cognitive skills and become or remain self-sufficient.

Agency: Dade County

[SA 1008]

Sylvania Heights Elementary is a Community School co-sponsored by the City of West Miami, although its sponsorship is no longer required, the City has continued to support the Community School.

A community school is an attempt on the part of the school and the community to provide a total educational, cultural and leisure activity program for people of all ages, in a community area. As a strong community school, civic clubs, organizations, and a variety of agencies as well as local businesses have become involved in our school. Of great significance, are our ties and exceptional relationship with the officials of the City of West Miami. Mayor Reboredo is the Chairman of our community school Citizen's Advisory Council and Vice Mayor Sosa is a member of the Council.

At Sylvania Heights Elementary Community School, we offer a Before School Care (6:45-8:15 a.m. Monday-Friday) and an After School Care (2:00-6:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.) We provide childcare services from 7:15 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on teacher planning days and during school recess periods. Since we are one of the few elementary schools in the area that provides this service, we accept students from other schools for the full-day program. We also offer an After School Care Program at Coral Terrace Elementary School.

A variety of community education classes are offered such a Ballet, Judo, Etiquette, Modeling etc. for children. One Arts and Crafts class and five E.S.O.L. classes are offered through cooperation with Miami Coral Park Adult Center. Two Needlecraft classes are offered free of charge at the West Miami Senior Citizen's Center by the community school.

Most of our operating expenses are generated through fees collected, as the Before School Care and the After School Care are fee based.

AGENCY: Florida Council on Aging, Inc.; Leon County; 1997-1998

[SA 1009]

A 1994 Literacy Needs Assessment Commissioned by the Florida Department of Education reported that over half a million (505,404) Floridians age 60+ have completed eight fewer years of school ('90 US Census). The older under-educated adult is the target population of our efforts. This project's primary strategic goal is clear: to reduce the number of uneducated older adults in Florida thereby increasing their employment opportunities. This project reaches beyond the traditional aging and literacy networks to the employment training, job development and employment placement networks. Lack of education is closely related to poverty and unemployment. The project will enable employers to expand existing opportunities for adults whose lack of basic skills render them unemployable, and/or keeps them, whether employed or unemployed, from functioning independently in society. Data gathered in two previous 353-demonstration grants, including the Unfinished Business ofLeafl7ing and The Profile of the Older Worker (FCOA 1997) identifies the correlation between the educational and employment needs of the older person. These citizens can contribute greatly to Florida's workforce, provided that their educational needs are not overlooked. This proposed project is innovative because it shows how on-the job training can raise at-risk elders' educational levels, and attract seniors who might not seek out more traditional educational settings.

Employers and adult educators must become aware of ways to incorporate the needs of older workers into their human resource development strategies. Educating businesses on the practical and human side of encouraging greater participation of older Floridians is key. The three strategies of the project are: 1) Educate employers; 2) Mobilize a network of aging service providers, and 3) Obtain direct; feedback from older persons to update knowledge about the older workforce. The Florida Council on Aging and the Florida Department of Education can assure the success of "The Workforce of the Future through this project.

 The Adult Education Quality Indicators are under Support Services and reside in the project's ability to establish linkages between the aging, literacy, job development and employment referral networks.

 The total budget requested for this project is $60,000.

AGENCY: Florida Council on Aging, Inc.- Leon County: 1998-1999

[SA 1010]

With its rapidly growing senior population, Florida has a tremendous stake in insuring that this constituency can fully participate in its growing workforce. According to an early 1990’s survey by The Commonwealth Fund, The Untapped Resource: The Final Report of the Americans over 55 at Work Program, almost 12 million non-working Americans over the age of 55 preferred, but were unable to work or were willing and able to work (Older Workers: Florida's Prime Resource).

The purpose of this project is to help a special population, seniors struggling to re-enter the economic mainstream, to become job-ready. A 'workforce readiness" curriculum for the elder population will be developed through this project.

The target audience is a special population: Florida's elders seeking employment. This proposed project will develop a workforce readiness curriculum specifically for seniors. The curriculum will be used by community colleges, vocational schools, and other educational institutions in programs to help seniors become job-ready. This project addresses the national and state priority of expanding outreach activities to disadvantaged adults, those seniors who want to work but do not have the necessary skills to compete in today’s workforce. According to representatives of the Florida department of Education Division of Workforce Development, no curriculum exists to meet the needs of this special population. The Indicator of Adult Education Program Quality for this project relates to Curriculum and Instruction (VII).

The funds will be used for Teacher Training, focusing on helping seniors gain employability skills. The Elders Workforce Readiness Curriculum will set standards for accountability and identify specific outcome measures.

This project is innovative because the new curriculum will include technology-readiness as an outcome measure, thereby addressing the concerns of some employers who believe that older workers cannot learn or adapt to new technologies. In addition, a key component will be helping seniors to understand and counter the anti-aging attitudes held by some employers. Typical employer perceptions are that older workers are not as productive as younger workers, not as flexible in work assignments, cost too much to train, are incompatible with younger co-workers, and have high rates of absenteeism and workplace injury.

The total funding required for this project is $69,020