Transitional Services
The transition process needs to occur as early as possible; the actual assistance of implementing your child’s Transition needs begins in High School. At each IEP meeting, starting at the age of 14, the child is asked to share his/her vision of life after high school.
What is Transition Planning?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a Federal law for special education services. This requires state and local education officials to provide appropriate special education services to eligible students.The planning process should contain:
* A dream or a vision
* A plan to help develop and work towards this vision
* A person to assist with making this vision become closer to a reality
Horace Mann School has qualified educators within the Technical and Transition Services Department (TTSD) to assist with the Transition Planning process.
The people who also are involved in this process are the student, family, school, and any other involved professionals.
The Chapter 688 Referral
Chapter 688 is a law that has been enacted in 1983 to provide a two-year planning process for young adults with disabilities to ensure that the transition from high school to adult services is not lost. The 688 referral is often made either in the student’s junior (11th grade) year or two years before the age of 22.
An individual must be receiving special education services and be in need of continuing habilitative services at the time of departure from high school. An individual who receives SSI or SSDI or is registered with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind automatically becomes eligible.
A staff member assists with doing the 688 referral forms for Horace Mann school students from the Boston area. If your child attends Horace Mann but resides outside of Boston, your town’s LEA will need to process the paperwork.
There are various adult service agencies available to your child, depending on his/her needs after high school. The most common services the Horace Mann School has linked services to are: Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), Department of Developmental Services, and Department of Mental Health (DMH).
There are also classes and job development skill training offered at Horace Mann to foster students’ sense of responsibility, ownership, professionalism, and independent living and consumer management skills.
For additional related information please check out the following links:
Chapter 9: Transitional Services, mass.gov
Department of Developmental Services
Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
Department of Education, Transition and Chapter 688
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