(a) Transition
services means a coordinated set of activities for a student designed within an
outcome-oriented process that:
(1) Promotes
movement from school to post-school activities, including:
(A) Postsecondary education;
(B) Vocational training;
(C) Integrated employment (including
supported employment);
(D)
Continuing and adult education;
(E)
Adult services;
(F) Independent
living; or
(G) Community
participation.
(2) Must
be based upon the individual student's needs, taking into account the student's
preferences and interests, and must include:
(A) Instruction;
(B) Community experiences;
(C) Development of employment and other
post-school adult living objectives; and,
(D) Acquisition of daily living skills and
functional vocational evaluation.
(b) Transition services shall be provided to
students with disabilities referred by the department of education who are
determined eligible for VR services and require VR services to facilitate
transition from the receipt of educational services in school to the receipt of
VR services under the responsibility of the division.
(1) Students with disabilities may be
referred for:
(A) General VR services during
their last high school year, or at ages 15-20 or grades
9-12
depending on the student's need for VR services and the student's availability
to participate in the VR program; or
(B) The special education-vocational
rehabilitation work-study program established by formal interagency agreement,
for eligible special education students of ages 15-20 or grades
9-12,
in need of in-school and community work training experiences to assist them in
transitioning from school to employment, who meet the following requirements:
(i) Eligibility for VR services;
and
(ii) The student is a
participant for whom competitive employment at or above the minimum wage level
is not immediately obtainable and who, because of the student's disability,
will need intensive on-going support to perform in a work setting.
(2) Outreach to
students with disabilities, other than those determined eligible for special
education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), shall be encouraged through an annual meeting with key
school personnel conducted by the VR counselor assigned to each school, and
must include, at a minimum:
(A) A description
of the purpose of the VR program;
(B) Eligibility requirements;
(C) Application procedures; and
(D) Scope of services that may be provided to
eligible individuals.
(3) The planning and provision of transition
services shall be coordinated between the division and school personnel in
accordance with this section and established standards, procedures and
guidelines.
(4) Services to
students in the special education-vocational rehabilitation work-study program
shall be administered in accordance with the program guidelines jointly
developed by the departments of education and human services.
(c) Transition services must
promote or facilitate the achievement of the employment outcome identified in
the student's individualized plan for employment (IPE) which must be consistent
with the student's strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities,
capabilities, interests, and informed choice, and the transition goals in the
student's individualized education program (IEP).
(d) Transition services are subject to the
use of comparable services and benefits provisions of section 17-401.1-13 and
the use of personal resources (financial needs test) provisions of section
17-401.1-14.
