Youth with disabilities who are making the transition from school to adult employment often face multiple obstacles.  An emerging framework for optimizing the success of these youth is called the Guideposts for Success (the Guideposts), developed by the National Collaborative for Workforce and Disability/Youth (NCWD/Y).

Recently, NCWD/Y released the publication State Perspectives on Using the Guideposts for Success focusing on the implementation of a transition model in Maryland that is using the Guideposts as it organizing framework. This model, called the Maryland Seamless Transition Collaborative (MSTC), has been piloted over the last 5 years by the Maryland Department of Education’s Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS), with the help of TransCen as well as other community partners.

The Guideposts framework is comprised of five areas: school-based preparatory experiences, career preparation and work-based learning experiences, youth development and leadership, connecting activities, and family involvement and supports.

The MSTC pilot features a sequential delivery of transition services, based on the Guideposts, so that students’ educational experience culminates directly in a job, enrollment in postsecondary education, or both. MSTC has been implemented in 11 of Maryland’s 24 county wide school districts. To date over 400 youth have participated in the model which has been applied with equal success across disability categories and demographically diverse communities. More information about MSTC.