Effective practices , resources and ideas for transition planning

Carol Huntley, M.Ed.

Transition SpecialistRound Rock Independent School District

(512) 464-5982carol_huntley@roundrockisd.org

The Focus for Today’s Discussion

1. Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

2. Students in the Juvenile Justice System

3. Self-contained Students Over the Age of 18 (getting ready to exit the school system).

Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders

Data from 2 National Longitudinal Studies show:

1.High drop out rate2.Take longer to be employed after

graduation, underemployment and lower employment rates overall

3.More problems in social adjustment4.Many become parents very early in life5.Many arrested in high school or in the first

five years after high school

Factors Specific to E/BD

Disability more often interferes with their education and ability to obtain and keep a job than students with other disabilities

Mental illness carries a stigma Gap in funding and service delivery between

adult and youth mental health systems of care. Other disabilities (L.D.; I.D.) may be hidden

under the E/BD. Those with behavior problems receive more

support with transition than those with other mental health issues (depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar)

What Works?

Build a Relationshipwith the Family

Get to know them with more than contact only at Transition Planning/ARD time

Make sure meetings, materials and phone calls are in a language they can understand

Invite them to the school for events and/or to visit classes

Make time for informal talks and to answer questions outside of a formal meeting

Ask questions about things that affect the student’s transition….medical issues; things that happen at home

Family Must Be Involved in Transition Planning

Hold meeting when they can attend

Do they have transportation to the meeting?

Make sure they understand issues at hand

If they absolutely can’t attend, could they be on the phone?

Make sure they understand and know where community supports are and how to access them

Supports Available Through the IEP

Does the student have a BIP and is it effective?

What kind of accommodations are being offered? Are they helping?

Does the student receive counseling, either in or out of school?

Are Basic Needs Being Met?

If the student is using drugs and/or alcohol, what support and help is being offered or can be offered?

Does the student come to school poorly dressed or without enough food? If so, what help can be accessed in your area?

Is the student taking needed meds to enable her/him to attend school and be stable enough to learn?

Transition Planning to Empower the student

Use Person Centered Planning

Try Visual Transition Planning using PCP techniques

Transition plan must include action as part of the planning

Process must be positive; stress strengths, dreams; not deficits and problems

Employment, Employment,Employment

Assess to find out the student’s interests and skills

Discuss Co-op or VAC class for credit

Students who are employed while in school are most likely to have a job when they leave school

Make agency linkages (DARS)

Explore Alternative Pathways to Graduation

Is a program available on campus for recoupment of credits lost (Atlas? Credit recovery?)

Does your district make available an alternative school for students needing shortened days or schooling at night?

Use Community Supports

Your local county authority (LA)

Non-profit organizations such as NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

Don’t Overlook the Power of a Mentor

Some districts have mentoring programs in place

Mentor should be willing to give at least 1 hour a week to be with the student

Those mentors that build a relationship with the student’s family can increase the impact of the mentorship

What About Incarcerated Students? Ongoing transition, beginning when

the student arrives at the detention or correction facility, emphasizing the students vision for his/her future and an action plan for items to be addressed.

The transition team should be made up of the student, correctional facility staff, family and school personnel

Support services for alcohol and drug abuse counseling, anger management, vocational counseling, training for parenthood

Continuation of transition planning when student is returning to the school system

Overlap Planning for 18+ Students Needing Ongoing Support

Planning should focus on what the student’s day will look like after exiting the school system.

Use a chart with a weekly calendar to make a plan

Start by writing the times that the student works or volunteers

Write other activities and events on the calendar that the student would like to do on a daily or weekly basis.

Planning for Transition Overlap

For example:First six-weeks: the school will provide

support on the job site and student will attend school during other hours

Second six-weeks: the person who will provide support attends and learns from the school staff member what kind of support the student needs and what has been provided. The student will add some of his/her activities with whomever will provide the ongoing support.

Third six-weeks: the person providing the support takes over and the school personnel steps back or removes to another room or outside, checking back for questions or possible problems. The student is attending all of his/her activities and has transitioned from school to adult life.

Resources Cheney, Douglas, ed. Transition of Secondary Students with Emotional or Behavioral

Disorders. Seattle: University of Washington, 2004.

Jolivette, K., Stichter, Janine P., Nelson, M., Scott, T., & Liaupsin, C. (2000) Improving Post-School Outcomes for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Council for Exceptional Children Teaching and Learning Center.

Person Centered Planning: Pacer Center Online http://www.pacer.org/tatra/resources/personal.asp

Test, D., Mazotti, A., Mustian, A.L., Fowler, C.H., Kortering, L., & Kohler, P. (2009) Evidence-based secondary transition predictors for improving postschool outcomes for students with disabilities. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 32, 160-181.

United States. National Longitudinal Transition Study2, Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities. Prepared for Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. SRI Project P11182, November, 2004.

Visual Transition Planning, developed by Renee Borders, Austin Independent School District. rborders@austinisd.org

Wagner, Mary. (1995) Outcomes for Youths with Serious Emotional Disturbance in Secondary School and Early Adulthood. Critical Issues for Children and Youths, Vol.5, No. 2, 90-112.