Interagency Collaboration and the Transition to Adulthood for Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disabilities

• Published in: Education & treatment of children Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 303 - 320
• Main Authors: Malloy, JoAnne M., Cheney, Doug, Cormier, Gail M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York The Pressley Ridge Schools 01.08.1998
• Subjects: Adolescents; Agency Cooperation; Behavior Disorders; Behavioral disorders; Child Welfare; Collaboration; Community colleges; Community Programs; Community Relations; Coordination; Delivery Systems; Demonstration Programs; Departments; Disabilities; Education Work Relationship; Educational Objectives; Emotional Development; Emotional Disturbances; Employment; Empowerment; Family Involvement; High Schools; Housing; Integrated Services; Interdisciplinary Approach; Mental Disorders; Mental health; Mental Health Programs; Outcomes of Education; Pretests Posttests; Project RENEW; Rehabilitation; School Districts; Secondary Education; Social Networks; Special Education; Teamwork; Transitional Programs; Vocational Rehabilitation; Welfare Services; Young Adults
• ISSN: 0748-8491; 1934-8924

Service delivery to youth and young adults with emotional or behavioral disabilities (EBD) has been viewed as disconnected, inefficient and associated with ineffective outcomes. Many communities are now using coordinated, interagency systems of support with youth with EBD to help them attain their personal, education, and vocational goals. This paper presents initial outcomes from Project RENEW, a demonstration project funded by the US Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services under a priority of the Rehabilitation Services Administration to improve transition outcomes for students with emotional disturbance or young adults with mental illness. In its first eighteen months, Project RENEW served seventeen youth and young adults with EBD. RENEW provided comprehensive case coordination for the participants' ongoing education, employment, social/emotional development, and community adjustment. Three features of interagency collaboration, gaining consensus on beliefs and goals, developing positive relationships between and among the team members and participants, and working to obtain flexible, individualized resources were emphasized. Outcome data from the first eighteen months of RENEW indicated that interagency collaboration improved on a pre-posttest measure of agency representative's perceptions of collaboration, and youth and young adults participating improved in high school completion, enrollment in postsecondary education programs, hours worked per week, and in their hourly wages. The approach shows promise as a model of effective transition services for youth with EBD.