Five-Year $2.5 Million Grant Awarded to COE Early Intervention Program

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – There is exciting news within the College of Education’s Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership (ICL). Project Memphis Ready, or PM Ready, ICL’s early intervention resource agency for young children with developmental delays and disabilities that focuses on pre-school readiness skills, has been awarded a five-year contract by the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) worth $2,535,000.

The grant is for center-based early intervention. PM Ready provides services to 24 children ages 0-5 within the Porter Leath University of Memphis (PLUM) Early Learning Academy in Orange Mound. These are typically children who have been diagnosed with autism or have social and communication or behavioral delays that may make preschool challenging. The goal is to teach prerequisite skills desired for successful entry into preschool while working with the child and family. Representatives from DIDD and the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS) toured the facility earlier this year.

PM Ready has operated in Orange Mound since 2022. Their plan is to relocate the agency to Porter Leath’s Alice Avenue location in South Memphis next month. The grant from DIDD will be in effect from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2029.