Transition to Life Council
Nationally, statewide, and locally there has been a call to action to improve living, education, and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The framework of this call to action is inter-agency collaboration and systems integration between families and individuals with disabilities, education, vocational rehabilitation, mental health, and advocacy. Fortunately, Oakland County has a history of having a collaborative community of partners willing to work together on behalf of individuals with disabilities.
In alignment with recommendations for improvement, the process of redesigning, restructuring, and reallocating as individual entities and in many cases, collectively, has begun. In this vain, the 2014-2015 collaborative work in Oakland County that addressed transition for students ages 18-26, recommended the following:
“Authorize and establish a joint Oakland County Transition to Adult Life Steering Committee with representatives from special education, vocation rehabilitation, community mental health and parents/consumers. The purpose of this Steering Committee would be to facilitate communication between entities concerned with the successful support and transition of individuals with disabilities to adult life and report back to their authorizing agencies on the status on these efforts. The goal: to keep the eye on the prize of successful transition.”
In support of this recommendation, the Transition to Life Council kicked off the first of four sessions to take place through June 2016. A call for participation yielded representatives from community mental health, vocational rehabilitation, parents, education, and advocacy. Based on the recommendations from the four postsecondary work groups, the Council identified advising and advocacy as an essential function for the interagency group. Additionally, the Council identified three areas of focus from the recommendations for this collaborative work
Identification of intersections, where collaboration occurs and identification of the gaps
Identification of ‘Branding’ for transition related tools & resources, with a centralized communication/dissemination source (1 stop concept)
Tool development & process sharing
The Transition to Life Council is one of the next steps as we move toward a more cohesive system for supporting students and families as they move from school to post-school life. For additional information,please contact cathy.schmidt@oakland.k12.mi.us
