HAMLET — Richmond Community College will pilot a new program this spring aimed at helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to enter the workforce.
Next Steps is a student-centered and job-focused program to support adults with IDD by providing contextualized academic instruction, workplace readiness skills, and opportunities for enrollment in integrated career training programs.
RichmondCC’s College & Career Readiness staff has been working with community partners to develop the program. An information session about Next Steps is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 13, at 5:30 p.m. on the Hamlet Campus in the Grimsley Building, room 102. The public is welcome to attend.
“We are committed to providing education and training to all students with the goal of transitioning into higher education or the workforce,” said Dr. Dale McInnis, president of RichmondCC. “We know this initiative will change the lives of many people by giving them meaningful and employable skills.”
Recent data shows 65 percent of students with an intellectual disability who completed a higher education program had a paid job one year after graduation.
Next Steps is part of the work of RichmondCC’s College & Career Readiness department, which is a federally funded WIOA Title II Adult Education program. It provides free adult basic education, high school equivalency, adult high school and English as a Second Language classes.
In Richmond and Scotland counties, the number of adults older than 25 who do not have a high school diploma is estimated to be around 19 percent.
“Adult education is a very important issue to our college and to the whole community. It’s a systemic issue that affects everything from economic development and recruitment to quality of life for many families,” McInnis said. “Our college is committed to helping be part of the solution to that problem.”
Many College & Career Readiness programs are seeing an increase in demand at a time when resources to support adult education have decreased.
According to the Coalition on Adult Basic Education, over the last decade, declining state and federal funds have led to declining numbers of adult learners who can access services. In fact, of the 44 million adults in the U.S. with low basic skills, only 1.5 million of them are served by federally-funded adult education programs.
RichmondCC relies heavily upon the college’s Foundation and the generosity of donors to support programs such as adult education. For example, the Foundation has:
- Helped pay for students’ High School Equivalency testing fees, eliminating the financial burden to earning their GED;
- Made graduation gowns affordable for all adult education graduates by paying a portion of their cost;
- Paid for membership fees for adult education students nominated by their instructors for the National Adult Education Honor Society; and
- Awarded annual scholarships to all adult education graduates.
Scholarships available for all adult education graduates include:
- Finish for Your Future: Up to $1,000 in scholarship money awarded to all adult education graduates who enroll in an academic program at RichmondCC
- Conder Basic Skills Graduate Scholarship
- Joseph R. Kester Excellence in Adult Education Scholarship
- Stancil Memorial Scholarship
- RCC Trustees Basic Skills Scholarship
“We could not provide the level of support needed to our students if it were not for the generosity of donors who give to our college’s Foundation. I’ve seen students who never thought they could do it have their lives changed when they finally earned their high school equivalency diploma,” Dean of Adult Education Nicole Worley said. “We understand the value in the services we provide and continually seek to raise awareness of our programs to increase support and community engagement.”
RichmondCC has added a second graduation ceremony in December for high school equivalency and adult high school students who will be completing this fall term. Traditionally, the College has just held one graduation in the summer.
Also, this fall 10 students have been nominated by their instructors for a paid membership to the National Adult Education Honor Society. This provides them with national recognition for demonstrating attributes that not only set them apart as good students but also as good employees in the workplace.
To learn more about the adult education programs at RichmondCC or becoming a donor to support these programs, contact the College at 910-410-1700.
