May 2016Vol. 17, No. 3An Overview of Transition Systems
The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD for Youth) created a tool to help youth, youth services professionals, and other caring adults ensure that youth with and without disabilities make a successful transition into adulthood. The tool provides basic definitions of what "transitioning" means, as well as what "systems" are. It offers sections with information on 11 different systems a youth may encounter during his or her transition: developmental disabilities, education, foster care, health care, housing, juvenile justice, mental health, postsecondary education, social security, transportation, and workforce development. Each section describes how that particular system works, the people and places usually involved, relevant policies and programs, and information on eligibility criteria for services within each system. The tool also includes a "My Transition Truths" worksheet to help youth evaluate how much they know about each system, their experiences with each, and how they feel the systems could be improved.
Access Transition Truths: An Overview of Transition Systems on the NCWD for Youth website at http://www.ncwd-youth.info/transition-truths.