Graduation: Facing the Loss of Entitlements

Graduation season is almost here and Hallmark greeting cards will be trumpeting words of congratulations, encouragement and new beginnings. For many who are graduating such sentiments will provide just the right balance for the anxiety that can accompany any period of transition.
But for special needs students and their families, graduation marks an end to many of the entitlements that supported and structured their daily lives. Without extensive and coordinated transition planning, some of these graduates may end up sitting “home alone”, unchallenged and unproductive, once their formal education has ended.
Until the age of 21, children with special needs are under the protective wing of the educational system, whether mainstreamed in regular classes, enrolled in local Special Services schools or in some cases even supported in out-of-state programs.
The local school district working with the families of these children creates and evaluates an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which details the goals for each child year by year. To ensure that the student reaches those goals, the school district is required to provide an individualized array of related services.
In New Jersey, the state of home rule, there are great variations in the way in which each local school district may interpret and fulfill its obligation to provide transition planning for their special education students. By law, a transition-planning component is required to be included in all IEPs once the student reaches age 16, if not earlier.
Whether and how this obligation is met in each school district is a subject of much debate, and understandably so. What parent doesn’t want their child to look forward to a fulfilling life after graduation?
NJ State Sen. Stephen Sweeney, who represents Salem, Cumberland and Gloucester Counties, is a parent of a special needs child. He is also the current president of the State Senate. In January of this year, he introduced Senate Bill 771, also known as the ACT (Adult Center for Transition) Bill.
This legislation would mandate all counties in New Jersey to establish county-based centers for transition for young adults (ages 18 to 24) with developmental disabilities. The senator’s vision for these centers is largely based on a pilot program operating in Gloucester County.
The Adult Center for Transition (ACT) established in Gloucester County works closely with the County Office of Disability Services to coordinate and integrate existing county-based programs, resources and services. There are reportedly no “new funds” allocated to this process.
The mission of the ACT is to ensure that young adults with developmental disabilities have the benefit of job coaching, mentoring, skill training and other appropriate wrap-around services that will produce a successful transition into adult work life. In Gloucester, the Center itself is based in the Community College.
Sweeney’s Bill so far has not moved out of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee to which it was referred on Jan. 12. But it has stirred an active discussion throughout the state, both as to the need for such centers and the model that the senator seems committed to require statewide.
The NJ Association of County Disability Services (NJACDS) has gone on record as opposing the legislation in its present form. The NJACDS membership feels that the need for better transition services cannot be met by a “one-size- fits-all” solution, when the existing services and resources in each county differ so greatly and there is no funding proposed to even the playing field.
Whatever the outcome of this particular legislation, it has caused the social services community to take a fresh look at transition planning for our young adults with special needs. “No child left behind” is a phrase that has caught the general public’s interest. Effective transition planning will go a long way to ensure that no young adult will be left behind in the pursuit of a productive life after graduation.
Did You Know?
• A new application for iPhone or iPod Touch is designed to organize the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process, providing legal tips and a place for notes, all in the palm of your hand. This free app, the IEP Checklist, was developed by the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center in Virginia. The IEP Checklist app can be downloaded at the iTunes store.
• The 2011 NJ State Budget Proposal includes a 10 percent cut to sheltered workshops and transportation to and from these workshops, as well as to supported employment “follow along services” funded through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).
• The State Budget Proposal also includes a drastic reduction in the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund from $9 million to $1.7 million.
• State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, is bringing a listening tour directly to the people in his district. The tour will provide an opportunity for all to give input on the proposed budget and other state issues.
The senator will be at the Rio Grand ShopRite on May 25 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and at the North Cape May Acme on May 27 from 3 to 5 p.m.
Pierson is the Coordinator of the Cape May County Office of Disability Services