The Arc is a national organization that promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.
The Arc Prince George’s County (The Arc), located in Largo, MD, was founded in 1952 with the mission of providing support, understanding, and opportunities for a lifetime to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. The Arc is the largest developmental disability service provider serving Prince George’s County residents. The Arc offers a comprehensive array of programs designed specifically for transitional age youth (TAY) and their families and caregivers including community inclusion; education advocacy; employment training and career planning; housing search; financial literacy; and education, screening, and assistance to individuals over 18 years old for core federal benefits and community resources.
In 2023, The Arc Prince George’s County received a five-year Healthy Transitions grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The purpose of the Healthy Transitions grant is to improve and expand access to developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate services and supports for transition age youth (TAY) and young adults (ages 16-25) who either have, or are at risk for developing, serious mental health conditions. The Arc leveraged their Healthy Transitions grant to create Project LIVE (Living with Intention, Vision, and Empowerment), an initiative in Prince George’s County focused specifically on TAY with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) who also have, or are at risk for developing, serious mental health conditions, especially those in need of services in Spanish. In the inaugural year of Project LIVE, from October 2023 to September 2024, The Arc engaged in several formative grant activities, as highlighted below.
Community Needs Assessment
At the start of Project LIVE, The Arc engaged its external evaluation partner, Sharp Insight, LLC, in a community needs assessment. The purpose of the assessment was to identify the available resources, resource gaps, training needs, opportunities, and barriers that could potentially impede implementation and coordination of services across child/ youth and adult systems, specifically related to individuals with IDD in Prince George’s County.
The community needs assessment revealed that Prince George’s County has some existing infrastructure to support young people with IDD; however, there are still resources that Prince George’s County lacks or could use more of, especially additional housing support that is equipped to meet the needs of TAY with IDD. Additionally, there are numerous barriers to accessing the services and programs that are available, such as inadequate funding and a disjointed system of agencies serving TAY with IDD. Given the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the populous in Prince George’s County, there is also a need for culturally responsive services. Lastly, there are training gaps across the continuum of care for TAY with IDD, including knowledge about navigating benefits systems and focusing on the whole person instead of focusing solely on mental health or disability needs.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Given these key findings, The Arc, in partnership with its external evaluation partner, made the following recommendations for entities supporting transition age youth in Prince George’s County:
# 1
# 2
Increase collaboration across organizations supporting TAY in the county
Increase the availability of TAY services in languages other than English
# 3
Bolster the TAY training of providers and staff serving youth in the county
ADVISORY COUNCIL
A core requirement of Project LIVE is to convene an Advisory Council comprised of at least 50% TAY with IDD or their families alongside a multi-sectorial group of community members and professionals. In alignment with this requirement, The Arc established their Council to serve as a forum for discussing Project LIVE’s progress towards grant objectives, ideas for programmatic changes, and processing of evaluation findings. Between March and September 2024, 10 individuals accepted roles on the Advisory Council. At the end of each Advisory Council meeting, members were asked to complete an exit survey to share information about themselves, their satisfaction with the Council, and, for TAY with IDD, whether they believe that the Council is helping people like them.
40% TAY with IDD and/or family members
n=10
9.7
(out of 10)
Satisfaction with how the Council is operating
100%
(n=2 TAY with IDD)
Agreement that the Council is helping people like them
COMMUNITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
To increase opportunities for professionals serving TAY and their families in Prince George’s County, The Arc held six online trainings for 163* mental health professionals and other professionals in related fields. At the end of each training, The Arc distributed an online survey for participants. Sixty-three attendees provided feedback on the survey; their responses are summarized below. *Note: Some participants may have attended more than one training session.
After The Arc’s community professional development trainings, attendees reported that they…
Gained knowledge & skills
Self-efficacy & likely future action
Were satisfied with the training
Were satisfied with the facilitator
SERVING TAY WITH IDD
Ultimately, Project LIVE seeks to support the mental health and wellbeing of TAY with IDD by connecting them with mental health providers who are qualified to meet their unique needs. Outreach to determine eligibility and enroll clients into the program began in March 2024. Since that time, The Arc has collected contact and demographic information from 99 people, performed one-on-one outreach (as defined by SAMHSA) to 38 people, screened 18 TAY to determine eligibility for Project LIVE, referred four people for mental health or related services beyond those offered by the Project LIVE team, and has served 10 clients. Given how recently services started, the Project LIVE team does not have enough data to report on client outcomes or changes in mental health indicators at the end of Year 1; however, future reports will include baseline and follow-up measures of mental health.
38 individuals contacted through one-on-one outreach
18 individuals screened for eligibility
4 individuals referred to mental health or related services
10 TAY with IDD served
Looking Ahead
The needs assessment highlighted key recommendations, each of which the Arc has addressed through enhanced collaboration across organizations, increased language accessibility, and bolstered provider training. Through these efforts, the Project LIVE team made significant progress in addressing the recommendations from the needs assessment while laying a strong foundation for ongoing program improvements.
Fostering additional community partnerships:
The Project LIVE team will collaborate with local organizations on advocacy efforts for policies, funding, and raising awareness about the importance of serving this population.
Increasing Spanish-language accessibility:
The Arc is committed to ensuring all project materials are available in Spanish to improve accessibility.
Continuing to provide professional development:
Project LIVE will provide a series of targeted trainings to mental health therapists and related professionals on better supporting TAY with IDD.
Adjusting outreach efforts to better reach the populations specified in the disparity impact statement: These include Spanish-speaking individuals and LGBTQ+-identifying young people.
Expanding the Advisory Council:
The Arc seeks to add Council members from agencies representing welfare, juvenile and criminal justice, education, higher education, employment and vocational rehabilitation, housing providers, and primary care providers.
These actions will help expand Project LIVE’s impact, address identified needs, and further align with stated program objectives in the year ahead. For more detailed findings, please refer to the full technical report by clickingthebuttonbelow.
