Focusing on the Point of Transition: A Service Integration Model

For over 20 years, substantial effort and resources have been focused on improving the outcomes for students with disabilities after they leave school. Responsibility falls to personnel within public school, rehabilitation, and developmental disabilities systems to provide training and support that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEducation & treatment of children Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 68 - 84
Main Authors Certo, Nicholas J., Pumpian, Ian, Fisher, Douglas, Storey, Keith, Smalley, Kim
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York The Pressley Ridge Schools 01.02.1997
Subjects
Agency Cooperation
Career Guidance
Communities
Community living
Developmental disabilities
Disabilities
Education Work Relationship
Employment
High school students
Inclusive Schooling Practices
Integrated Services
Job Placement
Job Skills
Public Schools
Secondary Education
Special education
Special needs students
Staffing
Student Placement
Transition Time
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Summary:For over 20 years, substantial effort and resources have been focused on improving the outcomes for students with disabilities after they leave school. Responsibility falls to personnel within public school, rehabilitation, and developmental disabilities systems to provide training and support that leads to employment and community living. In spite of this apparent concentration of time, effort and public money, unemployment and normal access to inclusive community settings for these youth remains a pervasive national problem. In our opinion, much of the problem is the result of an artificial dichotomy maintained between the public school and adult rehabilitation or developmental disability service delivery systems. In this paper, factors that contribute to the continued lack of success in delivering transition services are explored. Alternatives to existing practice, based on a service integration model focused on the point of transition, i.e., the last year in public school, are then explored. Such models require interagency agreements between the public school, rehabilitation, and developmental disabilities systems in order to raise transition services to a level sufficient to produce inclusive job placements and community access. The benefits and challenges to implementing such a model are discussed.
ISSN:0748-8491
1934-8924