This is graduation season. Students are ending their time in publicly supported education and entering a new life as adults, ideally well on their way to jobs and careers. This ideal is closer to reality for those youth who have experienced a well planned transition that include core elements of the Maryland Seamless Transition Collaborative (MSTC).
MSTC includes these key components: discovery of youth talents, interests, and need for support; early linkage with Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS); work based experiences throughout high school, including at least one paid job before graduation; and linkages with post-secondary employment and education supports.
Sam’s experience with Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) illustrates the value of these components. Prior to transferring from another school system at age 18, where he was in a program for individuals with significant disabilities, he had no community or work experience. It was perceived that he was “too disabled” to work. However, during the three years prior to finishing his education at CCPS, he had several work experiences, including volunteering at a library and sampling tasks at a retail store and restaurant.
These experiences helped Sam develop work skills, identify the best type of work environment, and identify the specific ways job coaching could help him learn and succeed in the workplace. In his second to last year in school he was referred to DORS for employment related services. In his last year he began working not one, but two paid jobs – at Dollar Tree and at Marshall’s Department Store. He was supported in learning and retaining these jobs by both CCPS and the Arc of Southern Maryland which had an agreement with CCPS to begin supporting Sam prior to school exit and continuing to do so after.
The result? The first day after he exited CCPS looked the same as the day before. At “graduation” Sam had the same jobs, and the same adult agency supporting him to succeed in them. He hopes to continue in these jobs long after his departure from school. A seamless transition indeed!
What is remarkable is that Sam’s story is not unusual at CCPS. This year 5 other students graduated from the Adult Independence Program (AIP) in which he participated. All 5 of his classmates are working in jobs that they will hold after they exit. And like Sam, all five are linked to adult agencies that will continue to support them in these jobs.
There are over 40 other students between the ages of 18 and 20 who are enrolled in CCPS’s AIP program. The expectation is that they will all experience similar outcomes. As Dr. Christy Stuart of TransCen said to the students at this year’s AIP graduation ceremony: “The most important tools our graduates can have are a great sense of who they are and what they can offer in the community.” It appears that Sam and his classmates will have these tools.
For more information about Seamless Transition, please visit the Maryland Seamless Transition Collaborative Website.
