Tag: transition

The School Might Call to Ask About a Young Adult’s Experience After High School: Here’s Help to Prepare

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

Post-Graduation Survey Support for Families

Each June 1-Nov. 1, Washington school districts call the homes of former students to reconnect and see how things are going. The information that families share helps the state make decisions about educational programming for students in special education.

If a school district representative calls, the interview will be about 15 minutes long and will include questions about work, further education and whether the student had support from any agencies while making the transition from high school to whatever came next. The caller might be a teacher, secretary, or other staff member.

By answering the survey questions, families provide valuable information that helps improve transition services for current and future students with special education programs. Families with youth still in high school can prepare to participate in this survey after graduation by making sure to provide a teacher with a reliable way to reach the family after graduation (phone, email, text).

Below are a few tips to help you plan for this interview, in case you get called. For a longer version of this guidance, visit the website of the Center for Change in Transition Services (CCTS), which is operated by Seattle University. CCTS provides the “Post-School Survey Student and Family Guide” as a Power Point and/or a downloadable handout in both English and Spanish.

All information is kept confidential. The data are summarized into reports about the post-school outcomes of students throughout Washington State. A statewide post-school outcome report is published by CCTS every December. School district reports are also published in December, and families can request a copy form the district.

Here’s a summary of questions. Families can prepare by writing down the answers and having them ready to access for the telephone survey, which is not pre-scheduled:

Work:

  • Is the young adult working? If so, where? How long?
  • How many hours? What are the hourly wages, or how much is being earned?
  • Whom does the young person work with?
  • If not working, what was the most recent job and its pay?

Schools and Vocational Agencies:

  • Is the young adult going to school? If so, where? How long?
  • Has the family or young person contacted any service agencies for support?
  • What service help is being given or lacking? For example, is the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) or a supported employment agency such as Trillium, WorkSource, Vadis or another company helping?

 

Washington’s 2019 Law Adjusts Graduation Requirements

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

The Washington State Legislature passed a law in 2019 that changes graduation requirements and may impact students who receive special education services. House Bill (HB) 1599 changes the rules about which tests students must pass in order to graduate and how they can earn a diploma.  

The new law removes the direct link between statewide assessments and graduation requirements by discontinuing the Certificate of Academic Achievement (CAA) after the graduating class of 2019 and the Certificate of Individual Achievement (CIA) after the graduating class of 2021.

Students in the class of 2020 and beyond will need to demonstrate career and college readiness through one of eight graduation pathway options that align with the High School and Beyond Plan, a requirement for all Washington students. The High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP) is expanded by the new law, and districts will be required to provide an electronic HSBP platform available to students beginning in 2020–21.

After-high-school plans are a critical aspect of the Transition Plan written into a student’s individualized Education Program (IEP) by age 16, and the expansion of the HSBP provides for improved alignment between these future-planning tools.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the agency responsible for oversight of all public schools and non-public agencies in Washington State. OSPI maintains a website page with information about graduation requirements. Visit OSPI’s Graduation Requirements page for compete and updated material. The page includes a link to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

This article provides a brief overview of the new requirements, and parents can take this list to an IEP meeting to ask questions and create a plan to ensure graduation success. For more general information about planning for the transition from high school, take a look at a Recorded Webinar on PAVE’s website and/or read an article called Tips to Make a Well-Informed Transition into Life After High School.

Class of 2019, Take Note!

Some students in the Classes of 2014 through 2019 may be eligible to have their assessment graduation requirements waived in English language arts (ELA), math, or both. The Expedited Assessment Appeals Waiver requires that the student show that he/she has the skills and knowledge to meet high school standards and possesses the skills necessary to successfully achieve college or career goals established in the High School and Beyond Plan.

Students may use one of the following to meet the assessment graduation requirements:

  • Graduation standard on Smarter Balanced or WA-AIM (ELA and math)
  • Passing a dual credit course
  • Passing a Bridge to College course
  • ACT or SAT score
  • Advanced Placement score
  • Passing Locally Administered Assessment (COE-Local)
  • Grades Comparison
  • CIA cut-score on Smarter Balanced (“L2 Basic”) (for some students with disabilities)
  • Locally Developed Assessment (LDA) (for some students with disabilities)
  • Off-grade assessment (for some students with disabilities)
  • Expedited Assessment Appeals Waiver

Further information about the waiver is provided in an OSPI Bulletin.

Class of 2020: What will change?

Students will need to demonstrate readiness for post-secondary career or college via one or more pathways. Students in the Class of 2020 will also have access to a waiver. The pathways available to the Class of 2020 are:

  • Graduation standard on Smarter Balanced or WA-AIM (ELA and math)
  • Dual credit
  • Bridge to College
  • C+ in AP, IB, or Cambridge class or achieving certain score on AP, IB, or Cambridge tests
  • ACT or SAT score
  • Also, if completed during the 2018-19 school year: Locally Administered Assessment (COE-Local) This option is not available in 2019-20.

Students must demonstrate skills via a pathway for ELA and math. The above options can be used interchangeably to meet both requirements.

Transition from Child Based to Adult Based Services in Behavioral Health

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

From Child to Adult

Transition to adulthood is difficult for all young adults, but if you are a young adult who utilizes Behavioral Health or Substance Use Disorder services it can be confusing and overwhelming. It is also difficult for the parents and guardians who support them. Moving from child based to adult based services takes some preparation to make it easier and it ideally should start a year or more before the shift. Depending on the intensity of need and the way that the disorder is affecting the young adult’s decision making skills, it can be helpful for you, as the guardian, to check and see if your youth’s current providers have transition support.

  • If transition planning is not available, you can go and visit companion adult based service providers to get information on how their system of support works. You can also ask how to find a new provider.
  • If this is a young adult on Medicaid, the regional Behavioral Health Organization should have contact information and locations for these providers.
  • If you are under private pay or employer based insurance, you will need to reach out to your youth’s current behavior health provider and/or therapist to see if they have some recommendations or can do a transition plan of care.
  • If you go to two different providers for therapy and medication management you will need to connect with both.

Behavioral health and substance use disorder privacy laws have some very strict rules in place around shared information concerning the youth’s treatment plan, and if you are not a part of a wraparound or WISe program, you may have a more difficult time with providers responding to your inquiries. Ask for generalized information that can be applied to anyone about how the system works. This keeps it from being about a specific person and makes it easier for behavioral health professionals to share their processes with you.

The young adult accessing these services may want to participate in this process themselves. This can allow you to be a side-by-side support and they can give permission for you to be with them as they explore. Understand that once they are shifted to adult services, unless you have guardianship or they are determined to be incompetent or a danger to themselves or others, you will no longer have any decision-making power. Doing ground work ahead of time allows for a smoother transition and helps them maintain care longer.

Things to look at when planning for transition:

  • Wait times to see the provider.
  • Is there medication management out of the same office?
  • Do they have an adult based wraparound type system?
  • How accessible is the building and is it on a bus or transit line?
  • Does the adult provider have a relationship with the current provider?
  • Who is another trusted support person if your young adult no longer wishes you as a parent or guardian to be involved?
  • What community supports need to be in place to for your young adult to be successful (smart phone apps, state community living supports like food stamps, SSI, disability bus pass, etc.)?

The key to prepping is creating a communication pathway ahead of time so that you can support your young adult as they transition. In the Behavioral Health System, at age 13 youth can demand that they make their own decisions in their care. This means starting at age 11 or 12 can help them in making smarter choices where their own care is concerned. Working to become a trusted support for both the therapists and your youth, as well as starting the conversations early, makes all the difference in the world.

World Psychiatry

US National Library of Medicine

Mental Health Services for Young People

Transition Between Child and Adolescent Mental Health