Transition Services for Children With Disabilities

NICHCY is pleased to connect you with resources on transition services for youth with disabilities.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), transition planning from school to adult life begins, at the latest, during high school. In fact, transition planning is required, by law, to start once a student reaches 16 years of age, or younger, if appropriate. This transition planning becomes formalized as part of the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP is a written document listing, among other things, the special educational services that the child will receive. The IEP is developed by a team that includes the child's parents and school staff.

Transition services are intended to prepare students to make the transition from the world of school to the world of adulthood. In planning what type of transition services a student needs to prepare for adulthood, the IEP team considers areas such as postsecondary education or vocational training, employment, independent living, and community participation.

The transition services themselves are a coordinated set of activities that are based on the student's needs and that take into account his or her preferences and interests. The resources we've listed below will help you learn more about transition ---what the law requires, what information a typical transition plan contains, how transition plans are developed, and so on. Because transition is such an enormous topic, we have organized the information as a "suite" of pages that break the topic down into some of its distinct aspects. More pages may be added to the suite in the future. At the moment, the Transition Suite consists of:

• Transition 101 (you're here!)
• Transition Resources for Parents
• Transition Resources for Students
• Transition Resources for Professionals
• Transition and Specific Disabilities

None of these pages provides an exhaustive list of the resources available on this very important subject. Each is intended as a beginning list, to get you started in your search for information and connection.

Students in the Viewfinder

Why is transition planning so important? The law requires that transition planning begin for students with disabilities no later than age 16---why? And who are we talking about when we say "students in transition"? If you really turn the lens on this population of students, what picture will you see? The resources in this section are intended to connect you with the broad picture of "why?" and "for whom?"

• Why sit up and take notice?
  www.thearc.org/faqs/qa-idea-transition.html
  This brief by the Arc does more than tell you why transition planning is so important for youth with disabilities. It also provides an overview of the process and the roles that parents, students, and school professionals play in that process.
• Taking a 10-year national picture.
  www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1008
  The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) involves a nationally representative sample of almost 12,000 students who were 13 to 16 years old and received special education in December 2000. The study will follow them until 2010 in an effort to understand their educational, vocational, social, and personal experiences as they transition from adolescence to early adulthood. The information gleaned will help build a foundation for serving them well. The brief at the link above reports on the demographic characteristics of NLTS2 participants and, thus, a portrait of youth with disabilities in transition.
• What's typical: What else is NTLS2 finding?
  www.ncset.org/publications/default.asp#nlts2
  The series of NTLS2 data briefs at the link above provides much more information about the nature and experiences of our youth with disabilities in transition. Do any of these titles appeal to you?
  

  The Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes of Youth with Emotional Disturbances
  www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1687
  
  Family Expectations and Involvement for Youth with Disabilities
  www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=2473
  
  Social Activities of Youth with Disabilities
  www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1470
  
  Youth Employment
  www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1310
  

• Graduation requirements and diploma options for students with disabilities.
  http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/Technical36.htm
  While we're profiling our nation's youth with disabilities as they verge on adulthood, why not take a look at the options they have for finishing high school. This paper from the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) examines the results of a national study on the current status of state graduation policies and diploma options for youth with disabilities. A shorter, less technical reporting of results can be found at: www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1928

What Does IDEA Require?

The 1990 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) carried the first requirements regarding the provision of transition services for youth with disabilities. These requirements were strengthened and broadened in the 1997 reauthorization of the law. The most recent reauthorization, which took place in December 2004, still requires that schools begin providing students with transition services no later than age 16. However, this latest reauthorization has made some changes to transition requirements. The full extent of those changes is not yet known, as the field awaits publication of final regulations for the 2004 amendments. Federal regulations typically provide guidance and detail regarding implementation of the law.

That said, we've chosen the resources below to span these last two reauthorizations of the law--1997 and 2004. It may seem that only information on the 2004 requirements would be necessary, but these inevitably discuss new requirements in light of what's different from the 1997 amendments. To understand what's required now, the starting point is very often what was required before. And where the 1997 requirements are consistent with those of 2004, the materials written to illuminate IDEA's 1997 transition requirements can be very helpful to understanding the law.

• Straight to the point.
  www.ncset.org/publications/policy/2002_06.asp
  Legal Requirements for Transition Components of the IEP does not directly mention either IDEA 1997 or IDEA 2004, but what's discussed appears to be consistent with IDEA 2004. The article goes beyond legal summaries and places transition within the broader context of the "how and why" and offers perspective.
• Transition requirements in IDEA 1997.
  www.ncset.org/publications/policy/2002_06.asp
  IDEA 1997: Implications for Secondary Education and Transition Services comes to you, courtesy of NCSET, the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition. You'll find verbatim language from the regulations written for the 1997 law and brief explanatory comments to place that language in context.
• Transition requirements in IDEA 2004: What's changed?
  www.nichcy.org/reauth/tb-second-trans.pdf
  Direct from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education, is this list of precise changes made to the law's transition requirements in 2004.
• Can't get much more specific than a side-by-side.
  http://ncset.org/publications/related/ideatransition.asp
  In the left column, the 1997 requirements. In the right, 2004 requirements.
• Purely transition and IDEA 2004.
  www.ncset.org/idea.asp
  The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) focuses in on IDEA 2004 and transition in this jump page to more resources.
• Need more?
  www.nichcy.org/resources/IDEA2004resources.asp
  Try NICHCY Connections...to Resources on IDEA 2004, a collection of materials analyzing the new law, including its transition requirements.

Other Laws Impacting Transition

While no law is as central to transition planning as IDEA, there are numerous other laws of great relevance. Here's a starter list of those laws and links to sources of much greater detail.