http://www.ocali.org/project/transition_to_adulthood_guidelines

Every parent strives to answer the question “Who will care for my child after I’m gone?” The distress in trying to answer it can feel immobilizing. First, you know best how to care for your child and how to implement that care with the right balance of tenderness and tough love. How, you might think, can my child possibly receive the same level of care from someone else? And second, planning on how to meet your child’s long-term needs after you’re gone forces confronting one’s mortality far earlier than desired.

This publication’s aim is to guide you through these issues with the goal of bringing you to a place of peace about them—to help you create a game plan that incorporates your guiding principles, experience, and quest for balance, all for the sake of providing the best care possible for your child.

So, how do you get started on organizing a game plan? Resources can vary greatly by geographic location, and it may take a while to understand what your child’s long-term needs will be. Your game plan will likely evolve over the years as you learn from your experiences and as your child’s and family’s situation changes. Here is one version on how to get started on developing your game plan:

1. Call your state’s Parent Center, it can help you find resources and information that are relevant at various points in your child’s life. Your Parent Center can also help you connect with a disability-specific organization—there are many—that is right for you. To find a Parent Center near you: Call 952-838-9000 (Voice) or 952-838-0190 (TTY) Visit www.ParentCenterNetwork.org Write PACER Center, Inc. 8161 Normandale Blvd. Bloomington, MN 55437
2. A referral from your Parent Center or information you find from your own research can link you with organizations that can help you get the medical and emotional support your child needs.
3. Begin studying your health care plan. Get to know what is covered and what is not. If you don’t have health care benefits, contact the Family to Family Health Information Center in your state. Also, parents who have children with disabilities similar to those of your own child may be able to direct you to local health care benefits and resources they find helpful.
4. Broaden your circle of connections with specialists, support professionals, friends, disability advocates, and people in your community who can help you.

Caring for your child may be an ongoing and time consuming responsibility, but after your child’s immediate care is in place, at some point you’ll want to regroup and add create a game plan that calls for taking specific actions.

Your game plan is like a journey. Making it takes time. Here are some key actions you can take over time to plan for the long-term well being of you, your spouse, your child with special needs, and other family members.

1. Organize your paperwork.
2. Manage your finances.
3. Get to know what tax advantages you qualify for.
4. Create an estate plan.
5. Create and fund a special needs trust.
6. Establish a conservatorship (guardianship), if necessary.
7. Plan for your financial future..
8. Engage your child in creating a vision of his or her future.
9. Identify what actions you and your child need to take so the vision becomes a reality.
10. Take the actions that allow the vision to unfold.

Guidelines

Our culture of independence and the complex emotions that surround money issues can keep us from taking the best action—in any situation. Here are a couple things to keep in mind as you create your vision of the future and set out to achieve a peace of mind about it.

• Commit to asking for and receiving help.
• Be willing to manage your finances with eyes wide open and a readiness to make adjustments.

Transition Planning

Planning for Transitions

Each IFSP must address the steps to be taken to prepare for successful change or “transition. The transition from Part C to Part B services is required by Nebraska’s Rule 51. The transition conference must be convened at least 90 days before a child’s third birthday or at least 90 days before completion of the early intervention program, whichever comes first.

a) hospital to home, b) individual to group services, c) weekly to daily or daily to less frequent services and d) home-based to center-based (preschool) e) biological home to foster care and back f) moving to a new community (within- or out-of-state) g) transitioning from an IFSP to an IEP.

Click here for more information about the requirements of the transition between Part B and Part C Special Education services and other related resources.

The Transition Plans should be outlined in the IFSP as soon as an anticipated change in services is considered; there is no need to wait until the next scheduled IFSP meeting. Having no plan or waiting six months to outline a plan could result in stressful and potentially unsuccessful transitions for the child, parents and providers.

Rationale for Transition Plans

Continuity of services is essential to a successful transition. Following are some of the issues which may arise in planning for transitions.

Parents’ anxiety about:

• limited information regarding future locations or providers
• opportunity for appropriate type and frequency of services
• parents’ inclusion in the decision-making process regarding the transition specifics
• separation from child when going from home to hospital or school
• clarifying parental involvement and role in child’s next setting/program
• identifying a key person to contact and with whom to coordinate efforts
  Traditional Problems in Early Intervention Transitions:
• incompatible schedules
• conflicting philosophies
• overlapping/duplicate forms
• lack of trust/respect for existing assessment information
• differing eligibility criteria
• unclear expectations/assumptions
• different cultures associated with different agencies/staffs
• loss of funding (i.e., waivers, insurance)
  

Transition Plans should:

• Ensure continuity of services.
• Minimize disruption of the family system.
• Promote child functioning in the natural environment or least restrictive environment.
• Clarify services coordination before and after.
• Involve planning, preparation, implementation, and evaluation within and between programs and the family.

Time Frames for Successful Transitions:

If the transition is because the child is eligible for preschool services (transitioning from an IFSP to an IEP) a conference is covened at least 90 days prior to the transition. This occurs with the approval of the family and includes team members and the local school district. It may be held up to six months before the child is eligible for preschool services. If the child may not be eligible for preschool services, efforts should be made to hold a conference for the purpose of discussing other services that might be available.

Year Round Services for Young Children with Disabilities

School districts are required to work with staff and community agencies to coordinate a calendar of year-round services in order to minimize the number of transitions a family and child need to make, and encourage cohesive, continuous services for young children and families, Part-time “summer-school” schedules and “extended-year” contracts are not acceptable in birth-to-3 services. Only the child’s needs and the family preferences should dictate a reduction in services.

Click here to view an informative IFSP Training Video.