Attachment 4.9(c)(2)

Coordination with Education Officials

The Department for the Visually Handicapped's (DVH) Education Services (ES) program has a special working relationship with the Department of Education and serves the population ages birth to 22 years providing instruction, counseling, and ancillary services as necessary to each eligible infant or student. The ES program provides support for the blind or visually impaired child or youth to help them make the transition from education to vocational training and work. Students are taught and their families are encouraged to stress independence. DVH has a written agreement with local school divisions to provide specialized services to students with visual disabilities of all ages. The ES and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs work jointly to ensure that the school-age population has a maximum opportunity to successfully make the transition from school to work.

The VR program works in cooperation with the ES program with students while they are still in high school in an effort to assist them with successfully transitioning from school to work. Students are referred to the VR program by the ES program at the age of 14 years. An Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) must be written for each eligible student before he/she leaves school. Students who are referred to the VR program may receive a number of services while they are still in high school. These services may include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Vocational evaluation and assessments
• Summer Work program
• Summer Adjustment program at the Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (VRCBVI)
• College Preparatory program at VRCBVI
• Transition Seminar
• Vocational exploration and counseling
• Rehabilitation technology evaluation

There will be an enhanced effort to expand transition services to persons who are deafblind. The following activities will help identify more students who are deafblind and improve transitional services to that special population:

1. Collaborate with families and local school systems to ensure adequate transitional planning for students who are deafblind. Also, assist the student in participating in vocational/career assessments, career fairs, meeting people in the community, site visits, or special youth business and leadership programs.
2. Conduct a transitional weekend for deafblind youth, age 14-21, and their families. Activities to include: introduction to the VR system, understanding of vision and hearing loss, self empowerment and advocacy training, post-secondary education opportunities, job readiness skills, career awareness, and an introduction to personal future planning.

The ES and VR programs require staff to undertake a number of joint activities that have a positive impact on transitioning from school to work. VR counselors and education coordinators participate in the development of IEPs. Visits to families are made by staff from each program in order to provide information concerning both education and rehabilitation and to encourage families to be supportive of the education and rehabilitation programs that are designed to assist the student in making the transition from school to employment. Staff from both programs also visit schools in order to encourage blind and visually impaired students to participate in vocational as well as academic programs. The schools are also provided the technical assistance necessary to enable those students to participate in the vocational programs.

DVH is a member of Virginia's Intercommunity Transition Council, which is designed to provide a process wherein education, rehabilitation, and other adult service agencies cooperatively coordinate transitional planning and services for youth and young adults who have disabilities. The ES program director actively participates on the Council. The participating agencies collectively evaluate the effectiveness of this statewide service delivery system.

The goal of the Council is to ensure that students with disabilities who move through Virginia's public school programs and into the community will receive transitional services focusing on career preparation, employment, independence, and successful life adjustment through a formal organized interagency case management system.

DVH has signed the Commonwealth of Virginia Plan of Coordinated Transitional Services for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities (Virginia's Transition Plan). This plan is a strategy for strengthening transitional services for youth and young adults with disabilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This plan is formulated on the premise that the coordination of services to young persons who have disabilities will assist these youth in achieving productive adult lives. The goal of the plan is to ensure individual transitional planning and service provision opportunities for all youth and young adults with disabilities, 15 through 21 years of age, in Virginia.

Annually, the ES and VR programs jointly serve approximately 150 students who are in the process of making the transition from school to vocational training or employment. This number represents approximately 12 percent of the total cases served by the VR program. Approximately 30 high school students will participate in special programs at VRCBVI such as College Assessment, Summer Adjustment, and Computer Exploration. Each year, approximately 50 students will participate in the Summer Work program.

The ES and VR programs jointly serve a much larger group of students with visual disabilities than are identified under Section 618(b)(3) of the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendment of 1983. Many students with visual disabilities are identified by the local school divisions and DOE under other disability categories because their vision is the secondary disability.

The ES and VR programs have joint policies and procedures to ensure that all students with a visual disability access transitional services in a timely manner. These policies and procedures require that all students with a visual disability be referred by ES to VR within one month of the student's 14th birthday. All students with visual disabilities will be evaluated by VR, and appropriate services will be provided to ensure successful transition from school to work.