DALLAS TWP. — Misericordia University was awarded a $75,000 grant from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation to support the Autism for Lifelong Learning Program (ALL).
The ALL program is a component of the university’s Autism Center. It provides supported employment, competitive employment and support services to adults with disorders on the autism spectrum. ALL helps participants transition from high school into adult vocational programming with the objective of enabling them to obtain supported or competitive employment in a fully integrated setting with at least a minimum wage.
ALL is part of the Autism Center’s overarching mission to render care across the lifespan and help program participants live and function to their highest potential. In addition, the center is working to establish a model that integrates direct services that are approved and licensed by the Office of Developmental Programs, the Bureau of Autism Services, and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Misericordia’s model includes opportunities for research and clinical experiences for Misericordia students and future health care practitioners in the fields of nursing, advanced practice nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, social work, and physician assistant education.
The funding from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation will supplement ALL program expenses. The grant was awarded in 2018 and will be distributed over a three-year period. The foundation was established in 2011 following the sale of Mercy Hospital in Scranton. Its mission is to function as a private foundation that supports health care needs including, but not limited to, health education, community wellness, payment for medical care for the uninsured and underinsured – regardless of the facility of treatment, and to improve complete physical, mental and social well-being of the residents of Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties.
