Domain 7: Interagency Collaboration
7.1 Serve as a liaison between families and community agencies
7.2 Learn about the range of community services and supports
7.3 Identify the roles, capacities, and constraints of community agencies
7.4 Develop strategies to collect, share, and use relevant data to identify community needs
7.5 Develop and provide transition-related resources and materials to others (e.g., students, parents, educators, service providers, employers)
7.6 Facilitate student/family referral to community services
7.7 Coordinate interagency agreements between schools and outside agencies
7.8 Work with professionals from other disciplines, schools, and agencies
7.9 Problem-solve with agencies to address transition barriers
7.10 Participate in community-level transition teams (transition councils)
7.11 Collaborate with agencies to share funding and staffing for transition services
7.12 Help students develop natural support networks in the community
Annual Transition Fair & Transition Summit
7.1, 7.2, 7.5, 7.7, 7.8, 7.10
According to Noonan, Morningstar, and Erickson (2008), in their article, "Improving Interagency Collaboration," high-performing districts provide information and training to families and students about adult agencies, employment services, and post-secondary education. Every year, Nixa High School, along with three other local high schools, hosts a Transition Fair to share with families information about adult service agencies, transportation services, employment, and post-secondary education support. The news story below includes a video of the 2017 Transition Fair, which was held at Ozark High School.
In the same article, Noonan, Morningstar, and Erickson also report that many of the trainings are co-sponsered by multiple agencies. One transition coordinator is quoted as saying, "We would invite agencies in and they would have
workshops on an evening where we would invite all
parents in our districts . . . and have breakout sessions
just like a miniconference, and people would go and
gather the information and get what they need."
In 2018, Nixa High School, as part of the Regional Transition Network, collaborated with area schools and agencies to provide a Transition Summit.
This transition event, which was open to juniors and seniors of area high schools, as well as their families, gave parents and students the opportunities to participate in training sessions and to learn about services in the community. Topics that were covered by the sessions include:
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Assistive Technology
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Bullying
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Employer Expectations
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Guardianship
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Student Led IEP
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Resource Fair
Monthly Meetings with Local Agencies
7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.9, 7.12
Another example of effective interagency collaboration is coordinated agency meetings for students and parents that are facilitated by the school district. These meetings go beyond the annual IEP and are not limited to one agency (Noonan, Morningstar, & Erickson, 2008). In my practice, students have opportunities to meet with local agencies at least once a month for a variety of services.
According to the article "Expectations of Statewide Special Education and Vocational Rehabilitation Transition Leaders for their Staff’s Collaboration Activities," the frequency in which VR staff collaborates with school personnel could have a relational impact on the success and quality of the activities and services provided. The more frequently they collaborate, the better the quality of their coordinated efforts (Oertle, Sax, Chesley, 2017). At my school, Vocational Rehabilitation comes every month to help students and families complete paperwork and to learn about services. The VR counselor will also bring with her representatives from other local agencies that they collaborate with for job coaching and other services. This is a video that Missouri VR counselors sometimes share with high school students to introduce them to services.
We also have monthly meeting with our Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) Coordinator. He meets with students to organize job shadows, to participate in the career exploration activities, to work on interviewing and other soft skills. This video describes all the ways that Pre-ETS Coordinators might help students with disabilities prepare for the workforce.
There are several other agencies that come to the school to work with our students and to introduce them the to services. Preferred Family Healthcare - Autism Services and MERSGoodwill offer soft skills training to help prepare students for workplace interactions, dressing appropriately for the job, and abiding by company expectations. CClinks, our local Developmental Disabilities Board, has started working with student-sponsored clubs to provide inclusive art classes after school. They have also provided opportunities for students to have authentic work experience both on campus and off.
As planned coordination and interagency collaboration is necessary to connect youth with adult services, and to provide more funding and opportunities to transitioning youth (Oertle, Plotner, Trach, 2013), facilitating monthly meetings with transition service agencies provides students and families in my district with many opportunities outside of their annual IEP meeting to make those linkages. Having these meetings has increased the students' comfort levels for working with agencies, has better prepared families for applying for services, and has given students more experience with career exploration and soft skills practice.
Sharing Information through CCLinks
7.1, 7.2, 7.5
Sometimes, one of the best ways to get information about local adult service agencies is through a local inter-agency organization. Connecting parents with service coordinating agencies exposes them to a wider array of community resources, provides training for accessing services, and provides support and advocacy for students and families. CCLinks is the agency that I refer my students and their families to first when we begin the transition planning process. This newsletter that CCLinks sent out winter shows just some off the many ways this organization connects people with services, collaborates with local agencies and schools, and provides families with learning opportunities.
References
CCLinks (2018) Winter Newsletter. Retrieved from: http://www.christiancountylinks.net/newsletters/Winter%20Newsltr%202018.pdf
Fabian, E., Dong, S., Simonsen, M., Lueking, D.M., Deschamps, A. (2016) Service System Collaboration in Transition: An Empirical Exploration of its Effects on Rehabilitation Outcomes for Students with Disabilities. Journal of Rehabilitation, 82(3), 3-10
Gurley, B. (2017, April 1) 14th Annual Transitions Fair in Ozark. Ozarks First. Retrieved from: https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/14th-annual-transitions-fair-in-ozark/684402126
Mizzoueducation (2017) Pre Employment Transition Services. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ic1HmBcH2w&list=PLyCa4ScjK9rG2WM7BvmOL7VsLV4blSkgQ
Noonan, P.M., Erickson, A.G., Morningstar, M.E. (2013) Effects of Community Transition Teams on Interagency Collaboration for School and Adult Agency Staff. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals 36(2), 96-104
Noonan, P.M., Morningstar, M.E., Erickson, A.G. (2008) Improving Interagency Collaboration. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 31(3), 132-143.
Oertle, K.M., Plotner, A.J., Trach, J.S. (2013) Rehabilitation Professional’ Expectations for Transition and Interagency Collaboration. Journal of Rehabilitation, 79(3). 25-35.
Oertle, K.M., Sax, C.L., Chesley, E. (2017) Expectations of Statewide Special Education and Vocational Rehabilitation Transition Leaders for their Staff’s Collaboration Activities. Journal of Rehabilitation, 83(3), 3-20.
Pacercenter (2015) Introducing Vocational Rehabilitation Services MO: Simply Said. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvvc18VUwVY