YTP: What is my role? As a transition specialist, your role is to: Identify a pool of potentially eligible students. Collect and review screening information. Refer students to VR.

Identify Identifying students can be tricky but we’ve found it best to first interview all students 15 and up. We have primarily focused on interviewing 10th -12th grade students every year using the Student Service Questionnaire that are on an IEP and a 504 and potentially eligible. This strategy is helpful for several reasons. First you get to know all the students and meet kids you might have potentially missed. Second you can get a baseline about where the majority of your students feel they need help with as far as transition (PRETS). This is also really helpful to your SPED team as they can utilize it on their IEPs while writing their transition goals and course of study. After we complete the interview we give a copy to their SPED teacher. After the interviews we select students based off of the following criteria: Does the student have a clear desire to work? Does the student have a barrier to employment that requires VR services? Is the student between 14-21? Will the student leave school within the next two years? Is the student at risk of dropping out of school in the near future? Does the student have a support system? Has the student shown a desire for help? THINGS NOT TO CONSIDER? Only working on 17 years and older (a specific age or grade group) A students disability category (like only taking SLD students) Whether the student has left school (ie dropped out) Another great technique after the questionnaires is to ask your SPED team and school counselors (504 kiddos) who may meet the criteria listed on the previous page. Also, ask your guidance counselors for a list of students who recently dropped out. Speak with your principal about potential students.

Identifying Once you have a list of possible YTPers we have found it beneficial to place students in a work experience on campus to build skills, interest, work ethic, and determination. Utilizing your school based business is a great way to help you determine if a student is ready for YTP. Of course there are some students who must move through the process much quicker because of their situations but as a general rule we’ve tried to find them work experiences on campus then move them to an off campus work experience. During this time we are gathering data and evaluations an how well the students are doing and addressing work skills, communication, and determination. Running kids through a work experience gives YTP an opportunity to decide if the student is a good fit. During this time you should be meeting with the students often to implement PRETS, gather their IEP, testing, and medical information. Don’t overlook POTENIALLY ELGIBLE students. These student are kiddos who have an undocumented disability (mental health, physical, OHI).

Review and Screening YTP and VR are both eligibility based programs. This means students MUST meet specific eligibility criteria to receive our services. The VRC job is very specific and NOT every student you bring to VR will be made eligible. But with good review and screening we can minimize that occurrence. Our job is to: Determine the student most likely to overcome a barrier to employment Identify students that have potential to be eligible for VR services. Screening simply means that you are collecting data to review to see if students fit the model. The data VR is going to ask you for is- Most recent IEP/504; academic performance, transcript Student Portfolio that includes career exploration outcomes/reports If student is I/DD have they applied for SSI/SSDI? Any psychological or other evaluations Completed Functional Capacity Self-Assessment form Completed Functional Limitation Statement Student Service Questionnaire Work Experience Evaluations VRC’s are going to ask key questions so be prepared to answer the following questions: Does the applicant have a diagnosed disability? Is that disability a significant barrier to employment? Does the individual NEED VR to overcome the barrier? If services are provided, will it result in competitive employment? You and your student should be able to articulate these questions to the VRC.

Refer to VR Once you feel you have a student that meets the YTP criteria its time to call VR and schedule an Application Appointment. Before you head off to VR they have asked for specific items to be brought to them prior to meeting. This year we’ve focused on streamlining how we interact with VR so we’ve provided a packet of information and forms VR is requesting. They will be here next month to go over the forms in-depth and answer any questions you might have. These forms are not optional and the expectation is that they will be completed as asked by the VRC.