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The
University of Missouri Kansas City Institute for Human Development (IHD),
Missouri’s University Affiliated Program, and Missouri Parents Act (MPACT),
Missouri’s Parent Training and Information Center, have created a
partnership to provide transition training and information to families
across Missouri. This project
is designed to enhance the capacity of students with disabilities and
their families to be self-determined in planning for and obtaining desired
lifestyles in their community upon graduation.
An individual’s transition years in high school are a critical
time for exploring interests and preferences and planning for a desired
lifestyle in their community upon graduation from high school,
unfortunately, many students with disabilities and their families in
Missouri have the perception that the only opportunities available to them
following graduation are segregated work and day programs.
They lack the information, resources, and support to be more
self-determined in planning for a lifestyle in the community based upon
personal interests, talents, and choices.
Some
of the initiatives of this project include:
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Training and mentoring MPACT’s regional parent trainers to
provide more effective training, information, and support to other
families.
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Providing direct community training and support to
families within a person centered framework that includes:
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Self-determination and
self-advocacy
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Person Centered Career and
Lifestyle Planning
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Effective
school-to-community transition planning
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Understanding Social
Security Benefits and Work Incentives
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Navigating Adult Service
Systems
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Creating family informational resources on each of the above
topics
Students,
their families, teachers, and others close to the student are invited to
attend transition training workshops as a team.
At these workshops students and their teams will have the
opportunity to develop a transition plan that is based upon each students
unique interests, preferences, and support needs.
Following is an outline of some of the transition information that
will be covered at these workshops.
Outline
of Training Modules
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Module 1: Self-determination
 Self-determination:
What is it and how do you achieve it?
 Understanding your
rights and responsibilities
 Supporting students
and families to be self-determined in transition planning
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Module 2: Person Centered Planning
 Values, policy, and
practice (Person-centered vs. system centered)
Recognizing interests,
gifts, talents, hopes, and dreams
Developing focus team
partnerships, collaboration, and shared responsibility
Creating personal
profiles that develop a vision for a meaningful lifestyle
Developing
life goals that support career, community living, and recreational
choices
Using personal
networks to build a bridge to life goals and develop employment and
community living opportunities
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Transition planning:
What is it?
Understanding my
rights and responsibilities in the transition process
Connecting a person
centered plan to a transition plan
Being self-determined
in transition and IEP planning
Developing and
identifying outcome oriented post school outcomes
Developing meaningful
transition plans that support these outcomes
Utilizing community
resources and a “circle of support” to achieve these goals
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Module 4: Social
Security, Work Incentives, and Medicaid
Myths surrounding SSA
programs
Overview of SSI
Programs
Overview of Work
Incentives (e.g. IRWE, PASS, Student Earned Income Exclusion)
Advocacy strategies
for establishing eligibility
Strategies for
managing benefits and work incentives
Using SSA programs to
support life goals and support transition planning
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Module 5: Navigating Adult Service Systems
A customer and
participant driven approach to obtaining needed supports and
services
Best practices in
employment and community living supports
Identifying quality
supports/services and providers of these supports/services
Understanding programs
and services (e.g. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Department
of Mental Health, Department of Family Services, School-to-Work,
Independent Living Centers, Family Directed Support)
Successfully
negotiating these systems and developing effective partnerships to
support life goals
Identifying and using
other community networks and services (e.g. churches, chambers of
commerce, realtors, caring communities)
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