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The Philadelphia Transition Council

transitioncouncil.org

The Philadelphia Transition Council is a team of parents, community participants and agencies working together to create opportunities for all students to participate fully in the work community with the supports they need, administered by The Arc of Philadelphia. Our purpose is to inform, train, address the needs of students and educate parents and professionals on best practices for transition from school to community.

The Objectives of this Council are:

  • To promote the coordination of programs and provide a continuum for participating agencies to share best practices in the area of student to adult transition
  • To advocate for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families in order that they receive consistent and appropriate services
  • To facilitate access to paid employment, post-secondary vocational and academic goals for those students not receiving these services.
  • To identify unmet needs of students and families and seek resources to meet these needs in conjunction with local agencies and the community
  • To create more awareness of transition services and programs for families
  • To promote public awareness through educational activities, community networking and cooperation
  • To participate in the general planning of transition services and programs,
  • To review the effectiveness of existing programs and services and their delivery

Service Area

The region served by The Philadelphia Transition Council is the common service delivery area of Greater Philadelphia.

 

Charter School Forum on Secondary Transition

In collaboration with regional stake holders, The Arc of Philadelphia supports the planning and implementation of an annual Charter School Forum on Secondary Transition to help connect schools in Philadelphia with services and identify best practice in the area of Secondary Transition. For more information contact executive director, Tanya Regli.

 

Transition Specialist Services

The Arc’s staff works with individuals and their families throughout school and adult life as advocates, but transition-aged youth represents a critical focus for our organization and for society as a whole.  As students transition into the workplace, the individual moves from entitlement to services through the educational system to the eligibility requirements of systems designed to support the individual with disabilities into adulthood. This is the critical point where the supports needed by an individual with disabilities are most likely to be lost.

We work closely with families and individuals to problem solve and overcome the barriers to accessing these supports and services, helping to ensure that each person can fully participate in our community throughout their life. We also work with schools and organizations in Philadelphia and the state to build the capacity we need in the city to have successful supports for transition-aged youth such as a strong Transition Council, training in best practices, and a continual focus of employment in the community as the optimal policy and economic outcome for the disabled person.

While Philadelphia has many extraordinary resources, our systems often work in isolation. Paperwork, scheduling, transportation and communication all converge and present significant barriers that prevent a student from reaching the goal of employment.  Schools tend to function individually and there is a significant lack of coordinated effort across the school district, and the school staff is not always able to reach out beyond the immediate school community. Outside resources struggle to connect with schools, constraining their ability to build a relationship with the students and their families. Adding to the complication are systems that can be confusing with limited resources but also varying rules.

 

The Arc has built a staff and a network of resources to help overcome these barriers, and we hope to expand those capabilities in years to come.  Our Adult Advocacy Director is completing the Discovery certification process enabling us to train and certify people. Combined with our background in advocacy, case management and training we are well situated to facilitate collaboration supporting the resources that exist to function towards the purpose of employment. Already working on school-to-work collaboration between schools and agencies, we know the components needed for successful transition and the barriers to overcome. Our work as advocates build the needed relationships with families as well as with numerous high schools giving us the ability to facilitate an effective transition process and the collaboration between multiple organizations.