Narrative: j. 2.

(A) The formal interagency agreement is between the state educational agency, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Adult Learning and Rehabilitation Services, Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation, Offices of Special Education and College and Career Readiness, and Missouri Department of Social Services, Family Support Division, Rehabilitation Services for the Blind. The purpose of this agreement is to facilitate the coordination of transition services from school to postsecondary training and/or employment for individuals with disabilities who are enrolled in secondary education and are/or may be eligible to receive vocational rehabilitation services. This agreement addresses the following:

(A) consultation and technical assistance;

(B) transition planning to include pre-employment transition services, focusing on competitive integrated employment outcomes;

(C) roles and responsibilities and financial obligations;

(D) outreach and identification; and

(E) work-based learning experiences to include programs like Project Search.

The agreement also describes the coordination of efforts to satisfy documentation requirements regarding subminimum wage.

Collaboration may occur as a part of the Missouri Interagency Transition Team, described below.

Information may be provided regarding pre-employment transition services, MVR eligibility, and MVR transition services, as well as employment, the exploration of postsecondary training programs, and connections to community agencies/resources that may be appropriate for transition planning.

Information may be provided regarding collaboration with the local education agency (LEA) on work experience opportunities, such as internships, apprenticeships and employer-driven skills training.

Individual consultation and technical assistance may also be provided by MVR during an IEP or 504 meeting, during a person-centered planning meeting, etc. Consultation and technical assistance may occur in person, by conference call, video conferencing or by some other agreed upon means.

Special Education Advisory Panel

DESE appointed an advisory panel for the purpose of providing policy guidance with respect to special education and related services for youth and students with disabilities in the state. The advisory panel is appointed by the commissioner of DESE and includes an MVR assistant director of Youth Services. Other members include:

• parents of children with disabilities (ages birth through 26)
• individuals with disabilities
• teachers
• representatives of higher education institutions that prepare special education and related services personnel
• state and local education officials
• representatives of other state agencies involved in the purchase or delivery of related services
• administrators of programs for children with disabilities
• state agencies’ representatives who provide services to children with disabilities including foster care and juvenile and adult corrections
• representatives of private schools and public charter schools
• vocational, community or business organizations
• representative of Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services

Missouri Connections

Missouri Connections is a web-based career exploration tool to assist Missourians in determining their career interests, explore employment opportunities, set up career plans and establish job search strategies and resources. Sponsored by DESE, Missouri Connections is free of charge to students, parents, guidance counselors, educators and jobseekers. Through Missouri Connections, OWD, Department of Higher Education, MVR and local school districts can utilize the same career planning tool with their clients/students. In addition to general career exploration/resource sharing, students/jobseekers may also develop a career portfolio by creating a unique username/password that will allow them to login and save information regarding their specific career interests, job search, resume, etc. Students/jobseekers who are receiving services through one or more of the above entities may also choose to share their login information thus eliminating the duplication of clients’ records and allowing for more efficient and effective services for mutual clients.

Missouri Interagency Transition Team (MITT)

MITT was formed through the Office of Special Education and includes members representing state-level agencies, including MVR, across Missouri who have an interest in improving post-secondary outcomes for youth with disabilities. MITT meets to collaborate, break down service barriers, share resources, improve overall systems of service and improve data sharing among agencies. The team is in the process of developing interagency training.

The manager and director of Youth Services are on the MITT and works closely with other MVR management staff to disseminate information and provide technical assistance to improve transition services and outcomes in Missouri. Two full-time assistant directors of Youth Services each have a territory and work directly with MVR staff to provide regional support and guidance and coordinate services.

Missouri Parent Training Act and Information Center (MPACT)

Missouri Parents Act (MPACT) is Missouri's only Parent Training and Information center. It provides training and information to parents of students with disabilities from birth through age 26. A representative of MVR's supervisory staff is an active member of the MPACT Board. In addition, a representative of MPACT serves as a member of the State Rehabilitation Council.

MVR and MPACT collaborate on projects to assist students and youth with disabilities in reaching their full potential by developing Regional Transition Networks that include stakeholders from the areas of employment, independent living, education, and the community. These stakeholders create sustainable groups with goals based on the individual needs of the local network and create projects and outreach opportunities that improve life after high school for students and youth with disabilities. The needs of all students and youth with disabilities are considered, including the unique circumstances of justice-involved, foster, and adopted youth.

Project Search and Other Employer-Based Transition Training Programs

Project Search is a one-year, employer-led internship opportunity for VR eligible youth with cognitive/intellectual disabilities. It provides employability skills training and workplace internships for individuals with the most significant disabilities particularly students transitioning from high school to adult life. MVR is one of five required partners in the Project Search model. The other required partners are education, a CRP, a long-term provider (follow-along) and business. The first Project Search site was in St. Charles County and included a collaboration of St. Charles County school districts. In addition to the Project Search programs, MVR is partnering with the North Kansas City Public School District, Park Hill School District, Liberty School District and St. Joseph School District to provide similar employer-based transition training programs prior to high school graduation for eligible students with most significant disabilities. MVR district offices and counselors that serve each of these schools serve on an executive management team. MVR has made a commitment to assist with referrals and partial funding for training for MVR eligible youth to participate in these programs. In addition, through the supported employment program model, MVR is also working in partnership with CRPs and school districts in Hannibal and Columbia to provide services for youth with disabilities through their employer-led work experience programs.

(B) MVR will provide for the development of the IPE as early as possible during the transition planning process, but, at least, by the time the eligible student leaves the school setting. The IPE will include specific transition services or pre-employment transition services and supports needed for an eligible student with a disability or a youth with a disability, including youth with the most significant disabilities, to achieve an employment outcome or projected post-school employment outcome. An IPE is required to be developed in consideration of and coordination with the IEP of a student with a disability under IDEA or a student’s Section 504 services. The IPE will be developed within 90 days from the date of eligibility determination and prior to a student with a disability exiting from high school.

(C) The Office of Special Education shall monitor school districts in their responsibility to allocate resources and provide transition services under IDEA to students with disabilities while they are still enrolled in the secondary school setting. The LEA is primarily responsible for providing transition-related services while youth are still enrolled in the secondary school setting. Nothing under WIOA or Title I of the Rehabilitation Act shall be construed as reducing an LEA's obligation under the IDEA to provide or pay for transition services that are also considered special education or related services and that are necessary for ensuring a free appropriate public education to children with disabilities.

It is the LEA's responsibility to allocate the resources to implement the services agreed upon in the IEP. If an outside agency fails to provide agreed upon services in the IEP, it is the LEA's responsibility to reconvene the IEP team to determine how these services might now be provided. The LEA is not responsible for providing and paying for those services that another agency agreed to, but failed to provide.

In collaboration with the IEP team, the special education teacher's role in transition includes

• providing specific information regarding the individual's strengths, past achievements, and current progress in school;
• discussing and identifying courses which address the student's selected program of study and work experiences that might be beneficial given the individual's interests and identifying any strategies or accommodations/modifications to access the general curriculum;
• referring students with disabilities who may be potentially eligible for VR services and in need of those services, to the pre-employment transition specialist; and
• linking students with disabilities and their families to appropriate postsecondary services, supports, adult services agencies or programs, such as MVR, prior to the student's graduation or exit from high school.

Vocational rehabilitation services are individualized and based upon the needs and employment goal of each eligible youth. Therefore, some services may only be provided during the final year of high school or after the individual graduates or exits the secondary school setting.

The LEA is primarily responsible for providing and paying for those services related to transition planning for educational purposes while the student is still in school. MVR is primarily responsible for the cost of transition planning for employment purposes. In some cases, MVR and the LEA share responsibilities for the provision of transition services, which sometimes requires sharing the financial responsibility of providing services within the parameters of both the Rehabilitation Act and IDEA.

If there is a dispute between the student/client and the LEA regarding his/her IEP, the student will follow the process provided for in the LEA's school board adopted policy for this purpose. If there is a dispute between the student/client and MVR regarding his/her IPE, the student will follow the process provided for in MVR regulations and procedure.

Most MVR services are provided at no cost to the youth and the youth's family; however, payment for some MVR services is based on individual and family income/resources and the ability to pay for costs associated with a specific service. Comparable services may be used prior to the provision of transition services.

When a student with a disability is both in school and has an IPE with MVR, the cost of services necessary for both the student's education and for the student to become employed, will be delineated between the LEA in terms of what accommodation the student needs to complete his/her high school coursework and MVR in terms of what the student requires to attain employment per the student's IPE.

(D) MVR counselors will provide outreach to and identification of students with disabilities in need of transition services. Students are not required to have an open case with MVR to participate in outreach activities.

MVR will inform education staff, students, and as appropriate, families, and other authorized representatives about pre-employment transition services and the general vocational rehabilitation program and may include at a minimum the following:

• Purpose of the vocational rehabilitation program
• MVR eligibility requirements
• Application procedures
• Scope and services that may be provided to an eligible and a potentially eligible individual

Specific outreach activities may include, but are not limited to, attendance at IEP and transition planning meetings, area career fairs, back-to-school nights, group presentations, transition fairs, and other events where information about the vocational rehabilitation program may be shared.

A referral to MVR may be initiated by school district personnel, by youth self-referral, by a family member, or by other educational or community resource agency or organization. Referral to MVR should be based upon the youth's individual employment-related needs.

Outreach activities conducted by MVR should facilitate timely referrals. The vocational rehabilitation counselor will work with the LEA to develop a referral packet for students/families, and to identify application procedures that will enable the counselor to act quickly in obtaining written parent or guardian consent to meet with the student, open a case, and proceed with an eligibility determination.

(E) MVR and the LEAs coordinate with each other to satisfy the documentation requirements in 34 CFR part 397 regarding students and youth with disabilities who are seeking subminimum wage employment. MVR contracts with the University of Missouri to provide pre-ETS services to students who are potentially eligible for vocational rehabilitation services. LEAs are encouraged to refer potentially eligible students who are known to have a plan to seek subminimum wage employment upon completion of high school for pre-ETS as early as possible, and to document the recommendation for such services in the IEP if the referral occurs prior to age 16. MVR will maintain documentation of the provision of pre-ETS. The MVR counselor assigned to a high school will remain the point of contact for students seeking subminimum wage employment following exit from the secondary school setting. The LEA will document the completion of transition and pre-ETS on the Summative Transition Outcomes form jointly developed by the SEA and MVR no sooner than 60 days prior to the student’s graduation/exit from high school and will coordinate the student’s referral to MVR. The purpose for the late referral is to allow the student to receive maximum benefit from the receipt of both transition and pre-ETS prior to the referral. MVR will open the case and provide opportunities to explore competitive, integrated employment, including participation in career counseling and information and referral. The objective is to identify strategies and opportunities to maximize skills and strengths to assist students in obtaining employment in a competitive, integrated setting. However, if this is not possible, MVR will provide documentation to youth seeking subminimum wage employment after career counseling and information and referral services were provided and following a determination of “unable to benefit from VR services.”

(F) The formal interagency agreement between the state educational agency, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Adult Learning and Rehabilitation Services, Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation and Offices of Special Education and College and Career Readiness, and Missouri Department of Social Services, Family Support Division, Rehabilitation Services for the Blind provides the assurance that neither the SEA nor an LEA may enter into a contract or make other arrangements with a subminimum wage employer for an individual who is age 24 or younger for which work is compensated at a subminimum wage. As long as the individual is a student of an LEA, the student cannot be involved in any subminimum wage employment such as

• work in extended employment at a sheltered workshop;
• participation in work experiences where they would be paid subminimum wages; or
• participation in work experiences that are not in a competitive integrated setting.