PA Transition Tidbits

The 2024 PA Secondary Transition Conference was a huge hit, with over 500 in-person attendees and over 150 virtual attendees! In collaboration with the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), scholarships were awarded to 151 youth and families, with almost 74% of the applications being awarded to first time attendees of the conference!

Conference attendees had the opportunity to choose from 53 sessions throughout the 2 days and all registered/paid participants can now access all session recordings in the PaTTAN Events platform!

OVR believes in the importance of, and continues to prioritize the provision of services to students and youth with disabilities. However, PA OVR was unexpectedly flat funded by Congress in Federal Fiscal Year 24 (FFY24) and expects to be flat funded again in FFY25, even though all operating costs are expected to increase over the next few years. Therefore, it is necessary that OVR re-prioritize Pre-ETS to ensure that resources are being allocated effectively and equitably to meet the needs of students and serve as many students as possible with available funding.

An Executive Memo went into effect on 08/06/2024, detailing the re-prioritization of Pre-ETS. These changes are designed to reduce negative effects on providers and students by not introducing new agreements, services, and/or rates. OVR will be utilizing the current minimums indicated in provider agreements. Reducing hours and lengths of Pre-ETS programs will not reduce the number of students served. Staff were also provided guidance on how to provide Pre-ETS to students in an equitable way and ensure that students are making progress towards their goals. An intensive technical assistance and support plan is being implemented to ensure efficient use of funds, develop sustainable programs, maintain budget performance, and reallocate funds as needed.

A webinar will be held on 9/5/2024 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. to discuss these changes. Use this link to register.

The School Based Enterprise Toolkit provides a rationale for the use of school-based enterprises as one way to provide students with career development opportunities in high school. It includes numerous resources and examples for planning, implementing, and succeeding with school-based enterprises that address the development of skills and are planned and run by students.

W.A.G.E.S. is a school-based job-related social skills curriculum. Lessons are designed to be implemented in high school classrooms and are guided by a cognitive-behavioral approach. The aim is to explicitly and systematically teach students skills. Lessons involve identifying situations and problems, generating solutions to problems, and acting on problems through contextually appropriate social skills by focusing on “real-life” social interactions in competitive work settings.

We had quite a crew for our 2024 PA Secondary Transition Conference! The Youth Engagement Specialists (YES) opened with a pre-conference youth event about how YOUth are the stars of transition, where attendees made their own walk of fame stars, and shared stories of our their transition journeys.

The next morning, YES recognized this year’s Katie Smith Award recipients and heard from a panel of young adults about their experiences. That evening we rolled out the red carpet for our stars, we danced and made friendship bracelets. A few Oscars were awarded for best outfit and best dance moves, and friendships were made and grown. The conference also included a number of presentations that included youth leaders from across the state. The conference wrapped up with an awesome keynote from Special Olympics Athlete Loretta Claiborne. Thank you to all of our youth volunteers who helped make this year happen!

Are you 18-24 years old and have a disability? We want to hear from you!

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) is working with Mathematica, an independent research company, to conduct a survey on young adults with disabilities. Mathematica is looking for volunteers to take a quick, 10-minute survey to help us understand the supports and programs available to you.

Participation is voluntary, and you can skip questions or stop the survey at any time.

Eligibility:

Ages 18-24

Identify as having a disability or special need

Why Participate?

Your input will help shape better policies and programs for young adults with disabilities and improve access to key services.

Complete the survey and receive a $15 electronic gift card!

Share this opportunity with your friends! You can list up to five friends and we’ll contact them to do the survey and receive a gift card too.

To learn more and sign up, contact the study team at ydisabilitysurvey@mathematica-mpr.com. If you work with youth with disabilities, please help us share this opportunity to participate in important research.

Looking for a place where you can Connect, Collect, & Contribute

to all things secondary transition?

Connect with people from across our state to collect

resources, share events and contribute stories about positive post-school outcomes!

Click here to create an account and login to join our PA Secondary Transition- Public Square.

Are you looking to learn more information about transition?

The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) provides information, tools, and supports to assist multiple stakeholders to provide effective services and instruction for students and out-of-school youth with disabilities.

Check out their Training Resource Library.

If you're new to transition, be sure to check out Transition 101!

Join us for the PaTTAN Technology Adventure for Students with Vision & Hearing Needs -- connecting students, families, education professionals and assistive technology (AT) representatives at your local PaTTAN office. No need to travel! Are you wondering how to find and pay for assistive technology before and after graduation? Come explore new technology and chat with vendors, learn about new trends, and ask any questions you may have. Try out the latest assistive technology and find what works best for each student. Join our "Q&A" sessions to get the answers to your questions about assistive technology and secondary transition; participate in round table discussions with local transition professionals so you can learn about the supports available for students after graduation, including assistive technology. Don't miss this chance to embark on this adventure, grow your skills, learn, and explore together right in your own community. See you there!

Objectives

At the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Identify features of software and applications that provide students with sensory impairments (visual impairments, deaf/hard of hearing, deaf-blind) access to all environments and meet individual goals.
• Describe 3 feature matching needs (input or output) in specific AT that you learned about during the training.
• Identify 3 interagency supports available to students/families following graduation to support their continued use of AT as they transition out of public education.

Target Audience

Families/guardians and students with visual impairments, deaf/hard of hearing, and deaf-blindness, teachers of students with visual impairments, teachers of students who are deaf/hard of hearing, certified orientation & mobility specialists, educational audiologists, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, special educators, general education teachers, early intervention service providers, developmental specialists, deaf-blind interveners, materials specialists, educational interpreters, assistive technology consultants, paraprofessionals, school psychologists, service coordinators, vocational rehabilitation professionals, administrators.

09/25/2024 Location: PaTTAN - WEST Registration: OPEN

10/22/2024 Location: PaTTAN - EAST Registration: OPEN

10/23/2024 Location: PaTTAN - CENTRAL Registration: OPEN

Upcoming Training:

A ROADMAP TO EFFECTIVE ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY SERVICES (Sep-Jan): This webinar series is intended to support educational leaders in developing and/or improving assistive technology services by offering a practical roadmap to effective assistive technology services.

• Sep 9 & 23 @ 12:00-1:00 PM

• Oct 7 & 21 @ 12:00-1:00 PM

• Nov 4 & 18 @ 12:00-1:00 PM

• Dec 2 & 16 @ 12:00-1:00 PM

• Jan 13, 2025 @ 12:00-1:00 PM

• Jan 27 @ 12:00-1:00 PM

POWER: AAC BLENDED-LEARNING SERIES (Sep-Apr): asynchronous work is completed in Schoology before each of the live webinars scheduled on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, 3:00-4:00 pm

• Modules 1-6 live training dates: Sep 11, Oct 9, Nov 13, Dec 11
• Modules 7-12 live training dates: Jan 8, Feb 12, Mar 12, Apr 9

Note: Modules 1-12 are also available as an on-demand resource on the PaTTAN Site!

Are you looking for transition events across PA?

Don't forget to check the events calendar to stay up to date on all of the great events happening in PA and nationally related to secondary transition!

The Pennsylvania Community on Transition is a group of various stakeholders from across Pennsylvania who work collaboratively to ensure appropriate transition outcomes for Pennsylvania youth and young adults.

The Pennsylvania Community on Transition is a state leadership team consisting of representative from: the State Departments of Education, Health, Labor and Industry, and Human Services; Various Serving Agencies, Young Adults, Parent Organizations, Advocates, Higher Education, and Employers.

The shared vision and common goals of the Pennsylvania Community on Transition is achieved when all PA youth and young adults with disabilities:

• Successfully transition to the role of productive and participating adult citizens
• Are empowered to recognize their talents, strengths, and voice
• Have equal access to resources that will promote their full participation in the communities of their choice.

Email: pasecondarytransition@gmail.com
Website: https://www.pasecondarytransition.com/
Phone: 4128266878
Twitter: @hmangiskuntz