Transition to Adulthood Program - PowerPoint Presentation

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Transition to Adulthood Program(TAP)

Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann, Inc. (ILCNSCA)Slide2

About The Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP)The Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann, Inc. (ILCNSCA) provides a Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP) to assist students with the transition from special education to adulthood.

The ILCNSCA is working collaboratively with educators in local schools as well as collaborative organizations to enhance students’ abilities to live independently as they transition to adulthood.

ILCNSCA TAP staff have themselves transitioned to adulthood while living with disabilities. Slide3

TAP EligibilityHigh school students aged 14-21 who have a significant disability and/or disabilities of any type.

TAP participating students have an Individualized Educations Plan (IEP) or 504 plan and are enrolled in high school, including local public schools, out of district placement, private schools or home schooling. The

program may serve individuals between the

ages of

14

and 21 who are currently out of school, however these individuals must have a goal in their

Independent Living Plan to

return to school.

There are no financial criteria to receive TAP services and no fee for TAP services.

*TAP is funded by the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC)Slide4

Services Provided through TAPInformation and Referral

– Providing information and referrals related to living with a disability such as resources for housing, transportation, etc.Peer Counseling

– The sharing of experiences with another person who lives with a disability and who has successfully strived to attain a productive and meaningful life in their community. This is provided through a peer role modeling approach.

Skills Training

– The acquisition of skills chosen by the student as needed by them for living independently, such as how to find and maintain a place to live on their own, obtain assistance to manage their personal care, how to manage their finances including budgeting, how to insure they are obtaining all necessary government subsidized benefits.

Advocacy

– Skills to become empowered by knowing and asserting one’s civil rights.

Service Coordination

– Coordinating services with other agencies that are involved in a student’s transition.Slide5

Services Provided through TAPPeer

Support Groups and Social Activities – Offer support in improving students’ social and communication skills and self-confidence.Parental/Familial Support Groups

– Provided to guide parents to identify resources and better understand the issues and processes related to transition, including benefits and the legal rights of the student/s with disabilities. This could include individual or group discussions on how to facilitate independence in their children, and empowering parents to develop their own support network.

Transition Services

– Under 2014 Work Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) services

that facilitate

transition

of youth to postsecondary life.Slide6

Potential TAP Goal AreasCommunication skills

– both verbal and non-verbal.Personal growth – disability awareness and empowerment.

Self Care

– learning to carry out activities of daily living, learning about nutrition, problem solving skills and/or decision making skills.

Education/Technology

– learning about post-secondary information

and/or about assistive devices.

Transportation

– learning how to travel in one’s own environment/ travel training.

Housing Options

– learning about what types of housing are available.

Managing Finances

– learning to manage personal finances.Slide7

Daisy’s StoryDaisy, a 21 year old young woman with Autism, came to the ILCNSCA with a goal to learn how to travel independently to and from a social club in Boston that she was part of.

Daisy’s TAP staff worked with Daisy to find the starting point and the end point to her travel. Together they used the MBTA website in order to plan the timing, as it seemed that the managing of connecting with transport schedules, when using multiple vehicles was a major part of Daisy’s challenge with using public transportation systems.Daisy traveled independently on a bus from her home in

Reading

to Oak Grove subway (Orange Line) in Malden where she joined up with TAP staff as her first leg of travel training.

Daisy then learned how to take the subway from Oak Grove to North Station, Boston independently.

Daisy learned how to obtain a Charlie Card and how to load them with enough money to go both ways on her trip to Boston and home.

She learned how to find and read the subway map on the wall at the stations that showed where the stops were and differences between inbound and outbound service routes.

TAP staff accompanied Daisy for multiple trips until she was able to let it be known she was okay without TAP staff. Slide8

About TAP ReferralsReferrals are made by educators in the schools within the 25 cities and towns in the ILCNSCA’s service area.

Referrals are also made by parents who call the ILCNSCA for an information and referral session (I&R), wanting to learn more about the Transition to Adulthood Program.Referrals may also be made by youth themselves.

More information can be found and referrals can be made through the ILCNSCA website at

www.ilcnsca.org/tap.phpSlide9

For Additional Information on ILCNSCA Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP) call ILCNSCA at 978-741-0077 v/

tty oremail mdipietrotaymore@ilcnsca.org

or

go to

www.ilcnsca.org/tap.php