Southeast Missouri State University announced the launch of a new program on campus for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities on the SEMO news website. The website states that the Cape County Board for Developmental Disabilities granted $350,000 to the university for the creation of the Redhawks Discover program.
Dr. Sarah Kuborn, chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, stated that the Redhawks Discover Program's purpose would be to help transition people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from high school onto the SEMO campus.
“Redhawks Discover is an inclusive post-secondary program. And what that means is that this program is going to be for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are transitioning from high school into adulthood,” Kuborn said.
According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Program website, an intellectual and developmental disability, also known as IDD, is a characteristic developed at birth or before 18 that affects a child’s social, physical and/or academic development.
Kuborn stated the program is built on four main pillars – independent living, academics, social development and employment.
“The first one is independent living, so they would live on campus in one of the dorms. The second one is academic, so they would attend courses. The 3rd is social development, they would engage in some of the social activities that the campus has to offer. And then the 4th is employment. So setting them up with internships and practicum experiences so that they can then, after their experience here, have a job out in the community.” Kuborn said.
Kuborn stated the program will provide opportunities that are currently not being provided in the SEMO community.
“It gives them an opportunity to engage in campus life, university life, that maybe they wouldn't go through otherwise,” Kuborn said.
Kuborn has been involved with the Redhawks Discover Program since it was first introduced in 2019. The initial program fell through because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kuborn was asked to be involved again when the program was reintroduced. Her response: “Let’s go.”
Funding in 2019 was delayed, but the passion for the program was not halted. Members of SEMO campus and community were still on board when the program was introduced again.
“It was just a huge collaborative effort of so many different people to make this whole thing happen. And it's really cool to see that that collaboration is paying off,” Kuborn said.
Kuborn shared ideas of how academic support and resources will be implemented into the Redhawks Discover Program.
“We definitely have ideas of what we hope to do. We hope to have mentors, student mentors, involved. We will have academic coordinators that have an understanding of what the needs are, but the logistics side of that is still getting worked out,” Kuborn said.
Kuborn stated she hopes the Redhawks Discover Program will start in the Fall 2027 semester. However, the focus right now is to hire a director to run the program before making final decisions.
The director will be expected to collaborate with community and local organizations.
“From my understanding, this is a huge need, something that this community has lacked, is something for individuals of this age group. And so it will take a lot of collaboration across different community organizations, but that director is gonna be involved in all of it.” Kuborn said.
Currently, eligibility criteria and the application process for the program are still in discussion.
“More communication will be sent out when we get it. But right now we have to get the director hired first,” Kuborn said.
More details surrounding the program will be announced in the future.
