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Transition to Adult Life Opportunities
Families, Parents and/or Support Persons for
Students with Disabilities Who Are No Longer in High School

Transition planning as is done during high school is a great opportunity for you and your son, daughter or the student you are supporting to take a leadership role in setting goals and directions for the future. The transition plans begun while your son/daughter or the youth you are supporting was still in school is a great place to start in moving into life after high school.

How Can Families, Parents, Guardians and/or Support Networks Help in Continued Planning for and Movement Toward the Future?

Parents, families, guardians and/or support network can mentor and support by helping to find answers to the following questions and then continue to "fine-tune" those answers:

What are the individual's...

• Long-range employment and life goals?
• Interests and talents?
• Learning styles?
• Positive personality traits?
• Achievements?
• Social skills?
• Work experiences (paid, volunteer, at home, at school, in the community) and where might he/she like to work?
• Specific challenges and strategies for dealing with them?
• Needs for accommodations and support?
• Options of interest (college, trade school, military, employment, living arrangements, healthcare, recreation, etc.)?

Effective transition planning is the result of teamwork over the course of the student's time in the education system. Hopefully you are now ready to assist your teen or young adult to move into the adult world and assume more and more responsibility. Thoughtful planning to help the youth find a successful path to employment and self-directed life begins implementation now.

Don't wait for others to make choices or decisions for your youth or he/she may:

• sit at home with nothing to do
• be stuck in a "dead end" job
• wait...and wait...and wait for services from adult community service agencies
• spend his or her days at a job training workshop earning far less than minimum wage and have little assistance in finding a "real" job

DO provide support and mentoring to assist your youth to make a plan for him or her self. DO ask your family, friends, neighbors, and employment counselors to help you along the way. Do use links here to get started.

Networking for Success

It is important to apply for benefits such as SSI or Medicaid as soon as possible, before turning 18 if your youth can, and to get connected to adult service providers if supports will be needed in life for vocational, residential, transportation or other needs. Identification of various options should have been part of your transition plan. If so, needed supports or services to live as independently as possible may be in place. If not, now that the youth is out of school, it will be up to each individual to make known what his or her special needs are whether on a job site or in college.

Supplemental Security Income (Part 1 of 3): A Bridge to Work
This parent brief is part 1 of a 3-part series on supplemental security income. This brief gives parents of youth with disabilities practical information about how youth can use Social Security work incentives to facilitate a gradual transition from dependence on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to partial or complete financial independence. Social Security work incentives allow a recipient of Supplemental Security Income to earn wages while maintaining SSI cash benefits and Medicaid. Background information, definitions, and specific financial criteria for using SSI work incentives are included.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=937

Supplemental Security Income (Part 2 of 3): So You Have Decided to Apply
This parent brief is part 2 of a 3-part series on supplemental security income. The brief is tailored for parents of youth with disabilities and provides a detailed description of the process for applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The brief outlines four elements, including a) the process of making an appointment with a Social Security Administration representative, b) the specific steps in applying for benefits, c) criteria that the Social Security Administration uses to determine an applicant's eligibility, and d) information about the evaluation conducted if the Social Security Administration cannot initially make a decision about your child's eligibility.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=938

Supplemental Security Income (Part 3 of 3): Your Right to Appeal
This brief guides parents through the Supplemental Security Income appeals process, providing information about why many applications are denied, how the decisions are made, and how applicants can respond effectively. The brief provides detailed information about the four levels of appeal and discusses three case studies. http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1150

Resources

Parenting Postsecondary Students with Disabilities: Becoming the Mentor, Advocate, and Guide Your Young Adult Needs
(March 2002) NCSET Parent Brief
This brief focuses on the importance of involving parents in the transition from high school to the post-secondary environment, and provides concrete recommendations to help parents learn to mentor and advocate for their post-secondary youth. Includes parent resources and references.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=208
See Spanish Version of this Parent Brief.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=2127

Career Guidance and Exploration
This topic explores how families and professionals can support youth with disabilities through the various stages and components of preparing for, obtaining, and succeeding in professional employment. It reviews strategies and tools for understanding employment-related interests, skills, abilities, and aptitudes; outlines necessary steps for resume or curriculum vitae preparation; and provides resources for learning about workplace accommodations.
http://www.ncset.org/topics/career/default.asp?topic=1

Employment Supports and Accommodations
This topic explores adjustments employers can make to the workplace to accommodate people with disabilities so that they can access the workplace and successfully perform their job tasks. http://www.ncset.org/topics/
employmentsupports/default.asp?topic=3

Self-Determination for Postsecondary Students
This Web topic explores how self-determination-the combined skills of self-awareness, self-advocacy, self-efficacy, decision-making, independent performance, self-evaluation, and adjustment-can contribute to an individual's ability to establish and achieve his or her own goals during and after higher education experiences.
http://www.ncset.org/topics/sdpse/default.asp?topic=7

Illinois Department of Human Services
The mission of the Department of Human Services (DHS) is to assist Illinois residents to achieve self-sufficiency, independence and health to the maximum extent possible by providing integrated family-oriented services, promoting prevention and establishing measurable outcomes in partnership with communities. Their Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) helps eligible people with disabilities find employment and training. Services can also be received by phoning, email, or entering the local office. Physicians/local schools/service providers may also make a referral on behalf of the individual with a disability. For additional information and to find your local office, click the following link:
www.dhs.state.il.us/ors/

Web Sites

National Center on Workforce and Disability/Adult
The National Center on Workforce and Disability/Adult (NCWD) provides training, technical assistance, policy analysis, and information to improve access for all in the workforce development system.
http://www.onestops.info/

APSE (formerly the Associations for Persons in Supported Employment)APSE: The Network on Employment is a membership organization formed in 1988 as the Association for Persons in Supported Employment to improve and expand integrated employment opportunities, services, and outcomes for persons experiencing disabilities.
http://www.apse.org/

Supported Employment for People with the Most Significant Disabilities
Supported employment is a program to assist people with the most significant disabilities to become and remain successfully and competitively employed in integrated workplace settings. Supported employment is targeted at people with the most significant disabilities for whom competitive employment has not traditionally occurred, has been interrupted or is intermittent because of the disability, or who, because of the severity of their disability, need intensive or extended support services to work competitively.
http://www.dol.gov/odep/archives/ek01/support.htm

New Apprenticeships: Disabled Apprenticeship Wage Support (DNAWS) Finding the right job can be tough, and the options can be confusing. But what if there were an option that enabled you to earn while you learn? An option that gave you qualifications that could lead to a real career in almost any industry you can think of? An option that allows you to begin your career in your local area? Now there is a career option that offers all of these advantages. It's called New Apprenticeships and it could be exactly what you have been looking for. This website tells you how New Apprenticeships work, the benefits for you and where to get more information including brochures in languages other than English. http://www.newapprenticeships.gov.au/
careers_adviser/default.asp

Small Business and Self-Employment for People with Disabilities
Are you a highly motivated self-starter who is good at planning and organizing? Do you want to be your own boss? Would you benefit from flexible work hours and reduced transportation needs? If so, you might be candidate for starting your own business. The Office of Disability Employment Policy would like to help you explore the many options available for starting a business by putting you in touch with the expert resources and financial programs used by over one million new businesses each year.
http://www.dol.gov/odep/programs/promotin.htm

Family Center on Technology and Disability
Formed by United Cerebral Palsy Associations and partner organizations to provide assistance to programs and organizations to respond to the technology needs of parents and families of children and youth with disabilities. This site includes information on model programs, success stories, links, and more.
http://www.fctd.info

National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)
The National Council on Independent Living is a membership organization that advances the independent living philosophy and advocates for the human rights of, and services for, people with disabilities to further their full integration and participation in society. Every state has one or more Centers for Independent Living, and many have programs specifically geared toward supporting and supplementing transition planning that takes place in the school. They can also assist with the transition from school to adult life through additional programs offered through the Centers.
http://www.ncil.org/

National Youth Employment Coalition
NYEC is a non-partisan national organization dedicated to promoting policies and initiatives that help youth succeed in becoming lifelong learners, productive workers, and self-sufficient citizens. This site contains information on legislation, best practices, and leadership development, as well as a host of projects and initiatives.
http://www.nyec.org/

National Youth Leadership Network
The National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN) is dedicated to advancing the next generation of disability leaders. The NYLN: promotes leadership development, education, employment, independent living, and health and wellness among young leaders representing the diversity of race, ethnicity, and disability in the United States; fosters the inclusion of young leaders with disabilities into all aspects of society at national, state, and local levels; and communicates about issues important to youth with disabilities and the policies and practices that affect their lives.
http://nyln.org/