Judith Gross, director of the Center on Community Living and Careers, continues the national expansion of the popular evidence-based Family Employment Awareness Training (FEAT). In August 2023, she travels to New York to kick off planning sessions for a three-year grant-funded initiative. The project will provide the training and technical assistance necessary so that two contractors of the New York Developmental Disability Council can deliver FEAT to two underserved communities.
The goal of this project is for each FEAT team to discover inspiring success stories of employment. Using these stories as a foundation, each FEAT team will customize the core curriculum to suit the services and resources available. This ongoing process ensures that the content is always current and reflects the latest information and resources. By combining real-life stories and adaptable curriculum components, FEAT teams empower individuals with disabilities to find meaningful employment opportunities that meet their unique circumstances.
Since its 2010 inception at the University of Kansas’s Beach Center on Disability, FEAT has expanded to multiple states, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Indiana, and now New York. FEAT adjusts the curriculum for each state, and offers models of successful employment in rural, suburban, and urban areas.