$5 million for vocational rehabilitation and $1.7 million for schools are on their way to the State of New York to address the impacts of the terrorist attacks

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced today that the U.S. Department of Education will provide $5 million in immediate assistance from its Rehabilitation Services Administration to New York State in order to help those who have suffered disabling mental and physical injuries as a result of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. At the same time, Paige announced the details of a $1.7 million grant to New York State to meet the needs of New York school districts whose students and teachers have suffered directly as a result of the terrorist attacks.

"As we offer assistance to New Yorkers in getting back to work, we confront a great need among those who have suffered disabling injuries and emotional trauma as a direct result of the attacks," Paige said. "There are also individuals with existing physical disabilities whose support programs and services have been disrupted due to the widespread damage to downtown Manhattan. They will all need extra help in the coming months, and this substantial grant will help to meet those needs."

Among other things, the funds from the Education Department's Rehabilitation Services Administration will be used for:

• helping individuals who have become newly disabled to return to the workforce by providing vocational rehabilitation (VR) services such as counseling, retraining, assistive technology, and job placement; and

• assisting previous and current VR consumers who may need additional support because they have lost their jobs or suffered emotional trauma as a result of the attack on the World Trade Center.

Of the $5 million, 86 percent will go to the New York Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities and the rest to the New York Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped.

The $1.7 million for New York schools is in addition to the $4 million that President Bush and Secretary Paige awarded last week to the New York City Board of Education to support grief and trauma counseling and other services for students, families and teachers affected by the terrorist attacks in New York City. The funds awarded today will be directed to school districts surrounding New York City. In recent days, Paige has also announced support for schools in Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia that were impacted by the attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Those grants are part of the department's Project SERV, intended to provide assistance to local school districts that have experienced a traumatic event. The department will also provide other forms of assistance to school districts impacted by the terrorist attacks as they develop long-range trauma response plans.

"The students, teachers and families of New York need counseling and other services to help them cope with the losses that this area has suffered," Paige said. "These needs are substantial and they will be persistent, but I am hopeful that the assistance we are providing to New York schools will offer meaningful help in the weeks and months to come."

In addition to offering grants and other support services to directly impacted school districts, the Education Department has developed suggestions for parents, educators and other caring adults to help them meet the needs of all children in the aftermath of the terrorism. These suggestions and links to other Web resources are posted on the department's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/september11/index.html.

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