Kosrae Pacific Outreach Partnerships for Parent Empowerment

The Kosrae POPPE Project provides outreach training, mentorship, technical assistance, support and information services to minority, low-income, unserved and underserved parents and families of children with disabilities, including children who are culturally and linguistically diverse in eight island states located in the remote Western Pacific. These eight island states include: Chuuk State, Pohnpei State, Kosrae State, Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Island (CNMI) Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Majuro and Ebeye.

Each of these participating parent organization receives $7, 000.00 funding per year from the KSPN CPRC grantee in Kosrae. This is provided through a memorandum of agreement. With these funds, each parent organization plans and implements activities to meet Project goals and objectives and collects evaluation data. All of the participating sites work together as partners in the POPPE Project. These partners have also formed a regional organization that is called the POPPE Alliance.

The goals of the Project are to:

1. Provide training and information to parents of children with disabilities in participating outer Pacific jurisdictions, particularly to unserved and underserved parents of children inappropriately identified or not identified at all;
2. Collaborate with the SEA in each of the island states through a contract (or some other collaborative process) to assist parents to understand the procedural safeguards under IDEA and mediation or alternative dispute resolution methods;
3. Establish collaborative relationships and linkages with the Pohnpei PTI;
4. Network with all appropriate clearinghouses and organizations conducting national dissemination activities under IDEA and other national, state and local agencies, organizations and projects that serve parents and families of children with disabilities; and
5. Collect, analyze and report data on an annual basis on the number of parents provided information and training, the activities of the Center and the effectiveness of the strategies used to provide outreach to serve parents, especially unserved and underserved parents of children with disabilities.

At the end of the project , the following will be accomplished:

1. Parent Centers in the eight island states will be strong, active organizations;
2. Parent Resource Specialists will be trained, empowered and actively assisting parents to access needed information;
3. Ongoing parent training and support groups/meetings will be held in each site;
4. An electronic communication system will be operationalized in order for parents to access information and network with other Pacific and U.S. mainland PTTIs and CPRCs;
5. Parents will be participating in the educational decision-making process in regard to IEPs/IFSPs for their children;
6. Information will be accessible to all parents on programs, services and resources available at their national, state and local levels;
7. All parents will be aware of and understand the provisions of IDEA and their due process rights.

• Kosrae Head Start
• Kosrae State Dept of Ed-Special Education
• Parent Information Resource Center
• Kosrae Legislative Body
• Kosrae Legal Service
• Kosrae Local Government