Working Across States and Stakeholders to Build Interagency Bridges for Youth:

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Working Across States and Stakeholders to Build
Interagency Bridges for Youth  The IDEA
Partnerships Interagency Community of Practice

• Marty Kester, IDEA Partnership at NASDSE
• Dick McCorkle, IDEA Partnership at NASDSE
• Alabama State Team
• Dalee Chambers, Department of Education
• Linda Hames, Department of Rehabilitation
• Linda Graham, Childrens Rehabilitation Services
• Brian Burrows, Local Transition Partnership
• Arizona State Team
• Susan Voirol, Vocational Rehabilitation
• New Hampshire State Team
• Anne Huff, Parent
• Emily Huff, Youth Advocate
• Pennsylvania State Team
• Michael Stoehr, Pennsylvania Training and
  Technical Assistance Network

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Transition Communities of Practice

• Rationale

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Todays Climate

• Crisis of youth
• Drop out rates
• Incarceration
• Poor academic skills
• Lack of education and employment.
• There is a spirit of collaboration in the
  legislation that ensures equal access to
  employment and communities.
• Interagency transition teams suggested as
  appropriate vehicle for planning and implementing
  transition services for students with
  disabilities.
• Johnson, L., Zorn, D., Yung Tam, B., LaMontagne,
  M., Johnson, S., 2003 DeFur, S., 1997 Repetto,
  J. Weiss, K., 1997

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Transition Communities of Practice

• Transition teams can be a strong force within
  the community.
• Their primary purpose is to assess how a
  communitys transition services system works and
  to develop policies and procedures to make this
  system work better.
• They can identify the best way to meet the needs
  of youth with disabilities leaving the local
  schools within their community.
• They can promote actions through school boards
  and other governmental entities in areas such as
  policy and funding.
• deFur, 2002, p. 17

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The Spirit of Community We Are In This Together!

• A way of working
• Involving those who do shared work
• Involving those that share issues
• Always asking who isnt here?
• A way of learning
• To create new knowledge grounded in doing the
  work
• With those who can advocate for and make change

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The Knowing and Doing Gap

• Knowing isnt doing!
• Practices often do not transfer across
  organizations.
• Practices often do not transfer across sites
  within the same organization.

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Communities of Practice

• Sharing
• Supporting
• Learning
• Often organized as same level, role, site and/or
  issue
• Creating new knowledge across organizational
  boundaries

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Communities of Practice

• Learning how to move from knowing to doing
• Translating learning to policy
• Encouraging investments that will move the work
• Recognizing the value of all contributions to a
  more complete effective approach
• Creating new relationships among policymakers,
  researchers, implementers

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Communities in States

• Alabama
• Arizona
• California
• New Hampshire
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia

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Communities in States

• Alabama

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Alabama

• ADRS Jointly Funded Job Coaches
• Local Transition Partnerships Grant
• Auburn Transition Leadership Institute
• Student Tracking Survey
• Alabama Transition Conference

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Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services
Jointly Funded Job Coaches
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AlabamaLocal Transition Partnerships Grant

• Project Objectives
• To establish a Local Partnership Model.
• To establish Capacity Building Strategies.
• To extend the Local Partnership Model to other
  Local Education Agencies.
• To evaluate Systems Change at the Local Level.

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AlabamaAuburn Transition Leadership Institute

• Institute Priorities
• Preparing highly qualified teachers
• Evaluating and researching programs and services
  
• Continuing education for practitioners and
• Initiating and developing innovative new programs.

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AlabamaLocal Transition Partnerships Grant

• In-School Version
• administered to students who are in the 11th
  grade.
• Post-School Version
• administered to students 1 year after exiting
  high school.

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AlabamaAnnual Transition Conference

• Conference Objectives
• (a) Increase the participant's knowledge of
  transition problems, issues, resources, and
  programs, especially as they pertain to Alabama
  and
• (b) Expand and strengthen the network for all
  persons interested in Alabama's youth and young
  adults with disabilities who are in transition
  from school to work and community.

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Communities in States

• Arizona

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Arizona

• Interagency Agreement Division of Development
  (DDD), Vocational Rehabilitation (VR),
  Exceptional Student Services (ESS) and Department
  of Education
• Cooperation and Collaboration
• Joint Programming

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Arizona

• Transition/School to Work Agreement between VR
  and School Districts
• VR counselor working in the High School
• Building rapport and networking

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Arizona

• Successful Programs with a Joint Effort
• Work Bridge A high school class where students
  gain knowledge, skills, training and employment
• Youth Employment Training Program (YETP) A
  summer program for students to gain work skills
  and work experience
• Youth Transition Program (YTP) A class in high
  schools where youth learn life skills, work
  skills and all needed transition services

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Arizona

• Parent Information Network (PIN)
• Contractors with Arizona Department of Education
  (ADE)
• Seven parents in AZ run this network All have
  special needs children
• PIN works with educators, agencies and parents to
  provide information to help folks advocate for
  themselves, remaining neutral at all times
• Website www.ade.az.gov/ess/pinpals

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Arizona

• Giving Voice to the Future
• 2005 Transition Conference in Arizona
• September 20-22, 2005
• www.ade.state.az.us

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Communities in States

• California

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California

• California Transition Summit
• June 23, 2005

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Communities in States

• New Hampshire

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New HampshireGuiding Principles

• Support and maintain the secondary education and
  transition initiatives that are occurring
  throughout the state
• Identify effective and evidence-based practices
  occurring on local, state and national level
• Leverage our secondary education and transition
  initiatives resources
• Build local community capacity
• Establish cross partnership connections
• Interagency partnerships DOE including Special
  Ed and VR, and DHHS (Bureau of Childrens Mental
  Health)

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New HampshireWhat are the benefits from
participating in the Community of Practice (CoP)?

• We learn about the national initiative and
  perspectives from Office of Special Education
  Programs (OSEP) and National Association of State
  Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
• Provide unique opportunities for a small state
  like New Hampshire i.e., National Disability
  Mentoring Day
• We learn expand our learning loop to include
  state to state initiatives and state to other
  agency initiatives
• The monthly CoP conference calls gives us the
  chance to share our progress with other states,
  as well as learn from one another so that we
  might replicate practices and activities that are
  successful in other states.

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New HampshireWhat has been happening as a
result of our participation in the Community of
Practice (CoP)

• Mentoring Grant
• Technical Assistance Grant
• Identified the need to Reach out to Juvenile
  Justice and Division of Children, Youth and
  Families (DCYF)
• New Hampshire and Pennsylvania Collaboration
• The Parent Information Center has designated a
  representative to NHs team
• Thirty-three transition initiatives are currently
  underway in NH. Our CoP is promoting the value
  of collaboration and sharing information by
  submitting articles for publication in
  newsletters
• Training opportunities are posted on websites

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New HampshireWhat are the barriers

• There is no coordination of transition
  initiatives in the state. Each agency or bureau
  has its own plan. No one agency has been given
  the charge to develop a statewide plan
• There is no vehicle to help us tap into the
  expertise area of each agency. We are working on
  getting partners at the table to ensure we are
  including all agencies involved with transition
  services
• There is no central clearinghouse for secondary
  education and transition initiatives around the
  state. We tend to know the initiatives within
  our own area of expertise
• Each agency does not speak the same language

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Communities in States

• Pennsylvania

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PennsylvaniaImpact on Students and Families

• History tells us that
• All too often, youth and parents must start over
  after the youth leave schools.
• Weak link between youth services and the adult
  service system.
• Fragmented service delivery system.
• An overlap in service definitions.
• Multiple funding bases.
• Varying models of service delivery.

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PennsylvaniaImpact on Students and Families

• Interagency coordinating teams have emerged in
  literature and practice as nucleus of change in
  communities attempting to work collaborative to
  serve children with special needs and their
  families.
• As members of the transition community, it is
  essential to recognize the urgency to work as a
  team with mutual interest in and a shared vision
  of all students to live and work in their
  community as productive citizens.
• Lehman, C., Hewitt, Clark, Bullis, M., Rinkin,
  J., Castellanos, L., 2002 Wischnowski, M.
  McCollum, J., 1995 Repetto, J. Weiss, K., 1997

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PennsylvaniaCompliance to Commitment

• Over time, we transformed into a project-oriented
  team, by planning cross-system training and youth
  and young adult-focused activities.
• We developed trusting relationships and used the
  team as a forum to problem-solve around systems
  issues.
• We evolved into a transition community of
  practice to promote our shared vision for the
  successful outcomes of youth and young adults
  with disabilities.
• As a state team, we develop cross-system
  strategies to support the strengthen and expand
  local transition coordinating councils and teams
  impact on youth and young adult outcomes.

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PennsylvaniaGuiding Principles How we
Progressed to Make the Changes...

• Mutual Respect
• Building networks and relationships across
  "systems" and audiences
• Valuing one another's perspectives
• Creating transition strategies and activities
  based upon the bigger picture
• Building the foundation...collaborate, cooperate,
  and communicate.
• A SHARED VISION

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PennsylvaniaOld Way of Doing Business
Separate Pages in Separate Books
Dept. of Education
Dept. of Labor Industry

• Professional Development
• Policy Regulation Development
• Strategic Planning
• Service Delivery Systems
• Assessment
• Service Planning
• Service Delivery
• Program Initiatives Allocation of Resources
• Data Collection

Dept. of Public Welfare
Dept. of Health
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PennsylvaniaThe Shift From Isolated, Single
Agency Activities to Cross-Systems Efforts
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PennsylvaniaProfessional Development
Integrated Model

• Capacity Building Events
• Training
• Transfer of Learning in Language of Agency
• Contextual Framework
• Eliminate Duplicative Cost of Development and
  Provision of Training

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PennsylvaniaTransition Communities of Practice
Communication Network and Support Structure

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PennsylvaniaWorking Smart Program
Initiatives Allocation of Resources

• Parent Education Network (PEN)
• - PEN's transition activities 
• - Parent involvement in the transition process

• Bureau of Special Education Mini-Grants
• - Linked to Team requirements through the
  Conference

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PennsylvaniaWorking Smart Program Initiatives
Allocation of Resources

• Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Transition
  Projects
• Financial Memorandum of Understanding Funding
  Mechanism
• 24 Types of Cross-system Partnerships in 40 Local
  Program Initiatives
• 2 Statewide Projects
• Capacity Building
• Needs Assessment

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PennsylvaniaWorking Smart Program Initiatives
Allocation of Resources

• Office of Mental Retardation
• Transition Employment Pilot Coalitions
• Office of Mental Health
• Transition Pilot Projects
• Office of Children, Youth Families
• Independent Living Grants Growing Number of
  Youth to Serve -- Importance of Developing
  Collaborative Partnerships
• Dept. of Health
• Transition Checklist

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Pennsylvania

• Transition Healthcare Checklist
• Health Care and Personal Skills
• Arranging to move from Pediatrics to Adult
  Doctors
• Insurance Coverage
• Eligible Programs

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PennsylvaniaKeeping up with Growth

• September 2003 - Started with 7 people including
  parents and 4 agencies
• July 2004 - Grew to 27 people with 7 families and
  11 agencies-Panel of 9 people representing
  parents and all major systems
• October 2004 - 9 teams of 9 people were convened
  for 9 presentations across PA
• February 2005 - Interest has grown in PA systems
  and nationally

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PennsylvaniaExpanding our Capacity through the
IDEA Partnership

• State to FederalFederal to State
• State to State
• Professional Development
• Opportunity to Impact Federal Policy
• Expanding Youth and Family Leadership
• Issue Focused Practice Groups

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Pennsylvania

• Action Strategies for the Future
• Expand State to Local and Local to State
  Communication Network and Support Structure
• Agency Driven Cross-Systems Initiatives
• 4th Annual PA Transition Conference
  Strengthening Transition Achieving Results

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Pennsylvania

• Action Strategies for the Future
• Creating Linkages and Focus Among PAs various
  Family Support Groups
• Further develop Youth Leadership and Self
  Advocacy
• 5 Year Strategic Planning for State and Local
  Teams

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Communities in States

• Virginia

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Virginia

• Virginia State Transition Meeting
• March 14-16, 2005
• Williamsburg, VA

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Communities in States

• Welcome !
• Delaware
• And
• District of Columbia

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The National Community of Practice

• States
• OSERS
• OSEP
• RSA
• NIDRR
• National Organizations
• AAPD
• Fiesta Educativa
• Others
• National TA Centers
• Others

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Community Activities

• Focus Interagency and Youth Role
• Face-face meetings
• Representative Participation in State meetings
• Monthly Calls
• Learning Calls
• Practice Groups
• Interagency Participation
• Youth Role
• Juvenile Justice, Mental Health and Child Welfare
• Transportation
• Activities
• National Disability Mentoring Day
• Washington Internships
• Collaborate with NCSET on the National Summit
• Collaborate with federal projects and other
  cross-state communities
• Emerging..

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• Coming together is a beginning, staying together
  is progress, and working together is success.
• Henry Ford

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The IDEA Partnerships Interagency Community of
Practice

• Questions Answers

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• More information on the Interagency Transition
  Community and other Cross-state/Cross Role
  Communities will be available soon at
• www.ideainfo.org
• Watch for our web launch
• or call us toll free at
• 1-877- IDEAINFo