Transitions: CAP

1. Transitions: CAP

2. IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) • Part B (ages 3 - 21) • Part C (birth – 2 years of age) • FAPE • Free appropriate education • Least restrictive education environment • Identifying, locating, and evaluating of children with disabilities

3. Disability Categories Under IDEA • Autism • Visual Impairment (including blindness) • Hearing Impairment (including deafness) • Deaf-Blindness • Mental Retardation • Orthopedic Impairment • Speech-Language Impairment • Serious Emotional Disturbance • Specific Learning Disability • Traumatic Brain Injury • Other Health Impairment • Multiple Disabilities

4. IDEA Components • Evaluation and identification • Individualized Education Program and Related Services • Placement • Funding • Procedural Safeguards (Bateman & Linden, 2006)

5. Important Changes to IDEA 2004 • By age 16 (younger if appropriate) need to start transition planning indicating measurable postsecondary goals • Child must be invited to the IEP meetings when it is related to “consideration of postsecondary goals” • Development and implementation of transitions programs are now allowed under IDEA Part B • Delete requirement for LEA to take further steps if an invited agency doesn’t show up to an IEP transitions meeting • Parental or child (if 18) consent is required before inviting other agencies which may provide adult or transitions services or moneys.

6. Eligibility under IDEA • LEA must seek out and assess children or youths who have disabilities • Determination by: “a team of qualified professionals and the parent” • Evaluation and needs determination within 60 days from parental consent for evaluation • IEP team to meet within 30 days of eligibility determination • Eligibility under IDEA does not guarantee eligibility later in by VR • Eligibility or receipt of services may be trumped by Order of Selection (to be discussed later)

7. Evaluation Must Cover All Aspects of Their Suspected Disability • Health • Vision • Hearing • Social and emotional status • General intelligence • Academic performance • Communication needs • Motor abilities (Bateman & Linden, 2006)

8. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? The child’s parent(s) National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

9. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? Not less than 1 of child’s special education teachers* *Or, when appropriate, not less than 1 of child’s special education providers National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

10. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) *If child is, or may be, participating in regular education environment Not less than 1 of child’s regular education teachers*

11. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? Must be: • qualified to provide (or supervise provision of) specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities • knowledgeable about general ed curriculum • knowledgeable about availability of resources of public agency Representative of public agency National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

12. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? Individual who can interpret instructional implications of evaluation results May: • already be a member of the IEP team for another purpose, but may not be the child’s parent National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

13. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? Others with “knowledge or special expertise” about the child Such a person: • attends “at the discretion of the parent or the agency” • may be a related services provider (as appropriate) National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

14. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? “Knowledge or special expertise” about the child? “Knowledge or special expertise” about the child is determined by whoever invitesindividual to be partof the IEP Team National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

15. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? Who’s missing from this picture? Take a Wild Guess! National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

16. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? The focus of all this discussion and planning! The child with a disability! • Must be invited to attend, whenever appropriate • Must be invited to a meeting where postsecondary goals and transition services needed to reach those goals will be considered National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

17. Who must public agency include on the IEP Team? The child with a disability! If child does not attend the meeting, other steps must be taken to ensure that child’s preferences and interests are considered National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

18. So we’re talking about transition… …including the student… The regular players… Representatives of other agencies likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services* *Consent Alert! Consent Alert! National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

19. So we’re talking about transition… *Consent Alert! Consent Alert! Parental consent is required (or the student’s consent, if he or she has reached the age of majority)… …before public agency may invite these participating agency representatives to attend an IEP meeting where postsecondary goals and transition services needed to reach those goals will be considered National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

20. Who Is Involved in Transition Planning • Required • Parents* • Student (if appropriate) • Educators • School Administrators • Hopefully • VR services • Other adult service providers • The parents have the right to choose/invite others

21. When Does VR Step In? • No hard a fast rule • At least by age 16 (earlier if appropriate), schools have to start transition plans in IEP • Probably a good place for VR to become involved, but not mandatory • Parents and students have discretionary right to invite VR or other adult service providers

22. Cooperation Between VR Agency and Local Education Agency • Mandated through federal regulations • Plans, policies, and procedures must be contained in yearly VR state plans • Bottom line is that the school district must ensure FAPE

23. Cooperation Between VR Agency and Local Education Agency • At a minimum the VR state plan must provide for: • Consultation and technical assistance to educational agencies in planning transition, including VR services • Transition planning by personnel of the designated state agency and educational agency • Identification of the roles and responsibilities, including financial responsibilities, of each agency • Procedures for outreach to and identification of students with disabilities who need transition services Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, Volume 2, Section 361.22

24. How Does Order of Selection Influence Transition? • Order of Selection- a federally sanctioned waiting list procedure, used so people with the most severe disabilities get served first • Those receiving SSDI (some SSI) are presumed to be eligible for VR services • It is possible to meet the eligibility requirement for VR services and still never get served • Because of Order of Selection • Financial Needs Test • May be used to determine eligibility for VR services • May be used to reduce Order of Selection pressure • Some services must be provided w/o considering financial need

25. How Does Order of Selection Influence Transition? (continued) • VR must specify Order of Selection policy and criteria in the state plan C.F.R. 361.36(a)(1) • It must provide justification for the Order of Selection • Can’t deny services already in process • Go onto a waiting list if disability category not active • Appeal Process for Order of Selection • Right to mediation and an administrative hearing before an impartial hearing officer • Must be told about the CAP program

26. Order of Selection Criteria (Priority Categorization) • People with the most severe disabilities must be served first • Not specified by federal criteria • State VR agency’s definition of “individual with the most significant disability” • Priority categorization is based on: • Existence of one or more physical or mental disabilities • Need for multiple VR services over an extended period of time • Number of serious limitations to functional capacities • Typically 3 “serious limitations in functional capacities” qualifies as a “most significant disability” • (Colorado=3, Georgia = 2, Kentucky=4)

27. Colorado Order of Selection (example) • “Must have an impairment or impairments which… are severe” • Must need at least 2 core vocational rehabilitation services to address the functional loss • It will take a minimum of 5 months to complete the services • Must be seriously limited from achieving an employment outcome due to serious functional loss in 3 or more functional capacities

28. Wyoming Order of Selection (example) • Priority Categories • Disabled • Significantly disabled • Most significantly disabled • Waiting list

29. The Following Can’t Be Used to Determine Order of Selection • Age, gender, race, or nation of origin • Type of disability • Duration of state residency • Expectations of employment outcome • Need for certain types of services • Expected cost of services to the individual • Income of the individual/family • Where the referral came from

30. Transition Aged Youth 35 25 15 5 AS CO MT ND SD UT WY/AV

31. IEP at Application 90 45 0 AS CO MT ND SD UT WY/AV

32. Significant Disability 100 50 0 AS CO MT ND SD UT WY/AV

33. Earnings at Application and Closure 400 200 0 AS CO MT ND SD UT WY/AV

34. Hours Worked at Application and Closure 40 20 0 AS CO MT ND SD UT WY/AV

35. Colorado • Colorado Cooperative Services Handbook for Youths in Transition • http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/download/pdf/CoopSvcsHndbk_YouthTrans.pdf • 2002 Cooperative Agreement between Colorado DVR and Colorado Dept of Education (available at DVR or CDE) • Delineates the policies and responsibilities for each agency, and collaborative efforts • School to Work Alliance Program SWAP • A series of 44 grants between VR and local school systems; matching fund program; serves 3000 youth each year; case management model, ages 16-25 year-round VR services provided by SWAP staff who are school employees, many housed at VR.

36. Wyoming • DVR partnering with Dept of Education, LEAs, students with disabilities, and their parents • IPE to be developed before the student leaves the school setting • Act as a consultant for the student, parents, and school during IEP meetings • Plan a system to transition AT from LEA to DVR

37. Montana • Mandates plan at 14 for students spending more than 50% of day in special education/related services (Montana Law) • State government sponsored Transitions Counselor/Coordinator to be filled soon?

38. South Dakota • Co-fund with the State Special Education Agency a program called: • Transition Services Liaison Project—the lead transition project for the state. • http://www.tslp.org/ • Project Skills—Paid Work Experience Program. • Catch the Wave—Exposure to post secondary training. • Youth Leadership Forum. • Transition Tackle Box.

39. Utah DVR • Every other year: VR counselors, supervisors and administrators meet with representatives from the school districts including special education directors, teachers and administrators to discuss transition issues. • Every Utah high school has a VR counselor assigned to it that acts as a liaison. • Twelve dedicated transition caseloads where the counselor works exclusively with transition students. • In Southern Utah, VR helps fund two positions for transition coordinator positions housed in the schools, with time dedicated to serving needs of students who will be transitioning from school. • Serve on the Utah Special Education Advisor Panel. • Helps sponsor the Mentoring Day activities along with the Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities. • A Transition Fair is planned in connection with Mentoring Day. (Utah DVR submission to CSAVR transition query)

40. References • Bateman, B. & Linden, M. (2006). Better IEPs: How to develop legally correct and educationally useful programs (4th Ed). • http://idea.ed.gov/ • National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

41. CAP Discussion: Regional Issues and Problem Solving