Transition Resources

Questions may be directed to the Transitions Coordinator, 
Carson Book at [email protected].

Pennsylvania's Official Secondary Transition Guide
View the online Pennsylvania Secondary Transition Guide sponsored by the PA Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education on behalf of the Pennsylvania Community on Transition.

Pennsylvania Link to Community Care
This PA site connects individuals with a disability and older Pennsylvanians to services and supports available in their community.

CMU - Case Management Unit
CMU offers case management, funding, and access to community resources for children and adults with mental health, intellectual and developmental disabilities. Click "CMU Services" then "Intake" for directions on how to open a case.

OVR - Office of Vocational Rehabilitation
OVR offers eligible students with disabilities vocational guidance and assistance in preparing for, obtaining, or maintaining competitive employment. Referrals can be made by the school with parent permission, the parent, or the student him/herself.

PA ABLE Savings Program
A PA ABLE account gives individuals with qualified disabilities (Eligible Individuals), and their families and friends, a tax-free way to save for disability-related expenses, while maintaining government benefits. Federal and state law authorized the creation of PA ABLE accounts.

Special Needs Financial Planning
The Academy of Special Needs Planners has created the following website to help families with financial special needs planning, including Special Needs Trusts.
My Next Move
My Next Move is a web-based interactive tool for new job seekers, students, and other career explorers to learn more about their career options. Users can: explore over 900 different careers and see important information including skills, tasks, salaries, and employment outlook on easy-to-read career reports; look at related apprenticeships and training; search actual job openings.

Career One Stop 
Explore careers, search for schools, browse comprehensive occupational information, and look for jobs. Here you can explore job families or get specific occupation information such as description of the occupation, wages, employment trends, knowledge and skill requirements, associated tasks of the job, education or training required, and related occupations. You could even WATCH CAREER VIDEOS to see if a certain occupation would appeal to you!

O*NET OnLine  
A full-access, online version of the occupational network database. Find occupations using keywords or O*NET-SOC codes, browsing by Job Families, or browsing by O*NET Descriptor. Complete a skills search and use a list of your skills to find matching O*NET-SOC occupations.

Occupational Outlook Handbook 
Maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Occupational Outlook Handbook is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. Revised every two years, the Handbook describes what workers do on the job, working conditions, the training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects in a wide range of occupations.

Education Planner 
AES free college planning site. Choose a career, perform a college search, find
scholarships, education loans and financial aid information here! You can also use The Career Key--a free service to help you find out which job categories, industries, and specific occupations are most suitable for you.

Schools that make entrance exams (SAT, ACT) optional 
More and more schools are not requiring SAT or standardized test scores for admission. This is a great site to check out. Click the alphabetical or state-by-state listing at the center of the homepage for a list of schools that make test scores optional.
Secondary Transition - What Families Need to Know
Transition planning is a process required by federal and state law. Any student who will be turning 14 during the duration of the IEP must begin the transition planning process; transition now becomes the focus of the IEP. By law, the student must be invited to attend his/her IEP meeting. Although he/she can refuse to attend, parents cannot request the student be excused from the meeting.

Frequently Asked Questions
More information about the secondary transition process presently in a FAQ format.

Planning for the Future Checklist
Created by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the purpose of this checklist is to empower and enable students with disabilities and their families in planning for life beyond high school.

Agency Information
Contact information of various agencies with their functions and roles in transition planning.

Special Needs Trusts
Please see the attached brochure for general information on special needs trusts. More information is available from the Special Needs Alliance website, found under the link section of this website.

Autism Programs in PA
ASERT (Autism Services, Education, Resources and Training) is a partnership of medical centers, centers of autism research and services, universities, and other providers involved in the treatment and care of individuals of all ages with autism and their families. ASERT was developed to bring together resources locally, regionally, and statewide.

Transition Developmental Checklist
This is a checklist to be used as a resource for initiating discussion and keeping track of skills during transition planning. It covers health information, and independence, school and work behaviors for all ages.

Transition Healthcare Checklist
A resource to help youth/young adults with special health care needs make a successful transition to adult living that includes their health and health care. You can enter student data into the checklist and save electronically. This was created by the PA Department of Health and is a great one-step resource full of useful appendixes.
Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.