Kim Riley felt like she was on her own to navigate the options for her son once he completed high school.
"I felt like we were beat over the head with all of his disabilities, and what he can't do, and where he doesn't fit in," Riley said.
It inspired her to be the catalyst for change, founding The Transition Academy, a Kansas City educational program that helps high school-aged youth with intellectual developmental disabilities prepare for the workforce.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the employment rate of working-age adults with a disability is just 37%, compared to 75% for adults without a disability.
Riley said more work needs to be done to help young adults get and retain jobs.
"The Transition Academy is kind of an elective class for students in KCPS and students in charter schools, and for the work that needs to be done to close that gap... we can't simply approach it as an elective class. It has to be an entire school experience," Riley said.
The Transition Academy and partners are exploring workforce development schools already established in Louisiana to see how best to implement one in Kansas City.
"If you think about it, our teachers were taught to teach academics, and so this is a vocational piece," Riley said. "And so we want to really bring in business and industry to inform how students should roll up their sleeves and actually do work."
DiversAbility College and Career Fair, 12-7 p.m. Friday, Apr. 4 at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, Missouri 64110.
- Kim Riley, founder and CEO, Transition Academy
