Internships and Partnerships

Internships are integral to Next Steps, providing students with opportunities to gain hands-on experiences in a variety of fields. IDEAL’s inclusion model applies to the workplace as well, and our internship program provides appropriate job coaching and support through the curriculum and on-site. Students will be carefully placed in internships based on their skills and interests and our faculty will work closely with them to set them up for success.

Students set internship goals and track their progress at various internship sites. Faculty members serve as a job coaches at internship sites, modeling tasks for students and supporting them as they begin to take on work. These job coaches also provide a resource to the internship hosts to learn how to best support student interns. In all internships, our goal is to fade support and increase overall independence and confidence.

Students have been placed in internal internships that include:

Kindergarten Assistant
Arts Assistant
Digital and Social Media Intern

Our growing roster of external internships includes:

GE Law
Luv Michael
New York Public Library
Project Rousseau
STooPS Brooklyn

logos of companies with which Next Steps has had internships

The Bridge Program at the University of Mount Saint Vincent

Next Steps is built on community partnerships. Our unique collaboration with the University of Mount Saint Vincent’s inclusive Bridge Program gives our students the opportunity to audit a life skills class on their Riverdale campus. This college experience builds travel skills, academics, and social skills, as students will stay on campus to join their peers for lunch in the college dining hall. In the past, students have audited classes including Banking and Budgeting, Adult Living, and Intimacy and Adult Relationships.

two young women dressed for winter stand by a stone wall with letters that read Mount Saint Vincent