I have attached the National Council on Disabilities - October 2008 - report on "The Rehabilitation Act: Outcomes for Transition-Aged Youth". I have read through it and highlighted a number of areas you might find interesting. The essence of the report is that there needs to be more research to determine the effectiveness of the collaborative process between VR, education, including higher education, and community partners. There is a little history on VR and IDEA and the requirements for an interagency agreement under the Rehab Act and IDEIA 2004. Those sections might be of interest to YTP practitioners.
The report seems to focus on Eastern and Southern states for their data, even though they cite studies from the U of O and others. Not surprisingly, the report also shows data indicating outcomes for youth with disabilities to be below their non disabled peers, but our YTP data show significantly different results based on the data collected since 1990.
It is an interesting report and I certainly applaud their recommendations, e.g., increased funding for youth transition, but with these economic times, we may not see the recommendations implemented. However, with the work we are doing in YTP and ACCESS (editor's note: ACCESS is a Pilot Project working with younger students and OVRS in Lane County), I think Oregon is at the forefront for showing the benefits of the collaborative process and beginning the transition process earlier in the student's educational experience.
There is also an section on the use of Social Security work incentives, e.g., Ticket to Work, WIN, etc. and the benefits to youth and their families.
You also might be interested in the attached "White Paper" on "Young Adults in Transition". This paper has to do with the collaborative process between state agencies that provide services to youth and is related to HB 2144 - the Children's Wraparound Initiative. There is reference to Memorandums Of Understanding (MOU) and some reference to Project ACCESS and YTP.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at clayton.z.rees@state.or.us
