Narrative: d. 2. D.

Through collaboration with education officials, DVR provides consultation and technical assistance to assist educators, as early as possible in the transition process, in the planning and provision of services that facilitate the movement of students with disabilities from school to post–school activities. Outreach occurs in a variety of ways and can vary to meet the local needs and include DVR staff participating in Transition Fairs/Resource Nights sponsored by a local district; DVR presence at various parent and stakeholder events targeting families with transition age students; outreach through partner agencies serving youth and students with disabilities, etc.

Maintaining effective partnerships at the local level continues to be an ongoing effort. Time is dedicated to mediating these relationships due to staff turnover within both entities, lost connections, and frustration with DVR processes. Unfortunately, this has required training to be more reactive in response to immediate requests, rather than proactively addressing upcoming needs. However, training continues to be a priority as DVR and CDE work with local teams to identify promising practices that can be replicated statewide to promote effective Pre-ETS and transition services.  As Pre-ETS were introduced and new programming was developed, other with school districts as the service provider, additional training needs with education partners were discovered, such as invoicing and reporting of services. 

Consideration is being given to utilizing the Transition Cadre to develop statewide trainings with consistent messaging that can made available to ease the sequencing of services as students are linked to adult systems. DVR’s Youth and Transition Services unit is in the process of adding two new positions to provide technical assistance and support in implementing transition services across the state, as well as the ongoing monitoring of youth services related contracts. These additional staff resources will increase DVR’s ability to engage in strategic planning and more intentional program development to enhance WIOA implementation in Colorado and promote active participation of various stakeholder groups to better coordinate efforts. All with the goal of streamlining services to avoid duplication and truly creating pathways that result in positive post-school outcomes for students with disabilities.   

DVR plays an integral role in annual institutes facilitated by CDE for local secondary education teams. The intent of DVR’s involvement with the institutes is to elevate awareness and expand DVR’s presence within education. The purpose of the institutes is to improve the quality of services in the area of secondary special education and transition at the local level through knowledge, capacity building, dissemination and outreach. The institutes, and the action plans which result from them, are supported and overseen by the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT). Institute efforts focus on improving State Performance Plan Indicator outcomes identified in IDEA. Each of these Indicators measures the state education agency's effectiveness in meeting the needs of student's with disabilities. For example, Indicator 13 measures the percentage of students with appropriate post-secondary goals on their transition IEP, and Indicator 14 measures post-school outcomes for students who had an IEP when they left school. DVR commits content experts, presenters, DVR counselors, and technical assistance to local institute teams. This group is dedicated to identifying ways in which we can make positive changes for students. 

Colorado’s Transition Community of Practice gave way to a new group, the Cross Agency Collaborative on Transition. Key initiatives and expertise explored by this group include WIOA implementation, apprenticeship expansion, business services, job seeker services, career and technical education, career pathways, talent pipeline development, sector partnerships, special education, individual career and academy plans, incentive funds for industry recognized credentials and more. Over the last year, this group has been identifying a united direction using each entities’ key initiatives. The group has also identified additional parties to include, such as subject matter experts in behavioral health and I/DD.  Invitations will be extended to these groups for their contribution to align goals which support improved post-secondary outcomes. 

DVR is also moving forward to create several outreach tools which will be utilized with both parents and representatives, including a family friendly brochure and restructuring DVR’s website with links for parents and representatives with information and resources specific to transition. Using NTACT materials and developing consistent messaging with partners, such as the Cross Agency Collaborative on Transition, has also been an important strategy to improve outreach. Improving parent training and outreach is also a high level priority and has been built into our state plan with CDE at NTACT and includes our parent education center, PEAK.