Transition Services

A student’s IEP must include post secondary goals and transition services before they enter secondary school, but no later than the first IEP to be in effect when they reach age 14 (or younger, if the IEP team decides that it is appropriate).

Transition Coordinators work with each high school, high school program, and middle school to assist students as they move through the schools and into adult life.  Areas in which Coordinators can provide or make connections to supports include, but are not limited to, the following:

• self-determination/-advocacy development
• post-secondary education and career planning
• vocational evaluation and training
• explanation of diploma options
• independent living support and community participation
• procedures for requesting  accommodations in post-secondary education and employment settings
• resume building and interview skill development
• adult service agency referrals

 Transition Team Contact Information

Arlington Transition Coordinators collaborate with other community agencies in the provision of transition services. Some of these include:

• Arlington County Department of Human Services
• Aging and Disability Service Division
• Mental Health Programs and Services
• Employment Center
• Arlington County Therapeutic Recreation Office
• Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS)
• Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, Project PERT (Post-Secondary Education/Rehabilitation and Transition)
• Northern Virginia Community College
  • NVCC High School Outreach
  • Pathway to the Baccalaureate Program
  • GPS for Success Program
• The ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, Inc.
• Northern Virginia Transition Coalition

APS Programs

• The Career Assessment Program for Students with Disabilities – is a highly individualized set of interest inventories, standardized tests, and exploration activities designed to build a comprehensive picture of a student’s interests, aptitudes, employability behaviors, and career-decision making skills.
• School-Based Transition Assessments – are both formal and informal activities, offered at each high school, conducted to assist students with transition planning in the areas of post-secondary education/training, employment, and/or independent living.
• Functional Life Skills Programs – for students with disabilities, in each middle and high school, provide various skill development activities to increase career/technical integration, social competence, community integration, personal growth, health/fitness, domestic living, and functional academic skills.
• Shriver Program –  The Eunice Kennedy Shriver provides a supportive environment for students with significant disabilities requiring a functional skills, community based educational program. Services are provided primarily in a self-contained special education setting with opportunities for interactions with students at the H.B. Woodlawn Program. In addition to functional academics, the Stratford Program also provides a range of various employment preparedness training options in an effort to meet the needs of the whole child. Students’ programs are developed around goals to achieve maximum social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth and acquiring the related skills necessary to function in the community as independently as possible. For more information visit the Shriver website or call 703-228-6440.
• Program for Employment Preparedness (PEP) – is a transition program, located at the Arlington Career Center and launched in school year 2014-15, that expands upon former APS programs known as Supported Work and Training(SWAT) and Experience Based Career Education (EBCE). This program incorporates Virginia’s Standards for Workplace Readiness, is multi-tiered, and creates a dynamic and targeted approach to meeting the transitional needs of students. PEP provides students with experiences and learning opportunities based on current business trends and needs so that students may gain relevant skills for obtaining employment in today’s market, including the requisite social skills necessary to secure and maintain long-term, meaningful employment. The program is designed for students to receive internship/apprenticeship experiences and may lead to trade certifications, licenses, college credit, networking connections, and/or employment directly upon graduation.

Other Resources

• The Transition Book
• Age of Eligibility
• Secondary Transition Services for Students with Disabilities (Virginia Department of Education)
• Securing a future for your child with a disability (from The ARC Northern Virginia)
• Entering the world of work (from The ARC Northern Virginia)
• A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth With Disabilities (from the US Department of Education)