Best practices in transition programs.(for high school students with disabilities)

Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has provided a national mandate to help high school students with disabilities grow into independent adults, youth with emotional and behavioral difficulties continue to experience considerable problems transitioning into adulthood. Their adjustment into socially acceptable adult roles has been examined in a number of follow-up and follow-along studies.[1-3] These studies consistently show that many of these young people achieve only a few of the critical post-school outcomes identified by Will, Halpern and others:

* High school completion. In numerous studies, students who have experienced emotional and/or behavioral difficulties have been found to have the highest high school dropout rates among all exceptionalities.

* Postsecondary or vocational education. Only 7 to 26 percent of the youth who do graduate go on to enter postsecondary education and training.

* Employment. These youth are more likely to be unemployed, under-employed, or employed in lower-skilled jobs than any other group of the same age. The earnings of these young people are slightly more than minimum wage and often in less than full-time employment, placing them in poverty.

* Independent living. Many of these young adults are unable to attain a level of financial self-sufficiency necessary to live independently. Therefore, they are at great risk of homelessness and dependency on public assistance once they leave the school system.

* Social adjustment. Finally, youth with emotional and behavioral difficulties are more likely to experience substance abuse, unplanned adolescent pregnancy, involvement with the criminal justice system, psychiatric disorders, and poor work, marital and occupational adjustment than other groups. These youth are more than twice as likely as youth with other disabilities to be living in a correctional facility, a halfway house, a drug treatment center or "on the street" as they transition to adulthood.

The complex challenges of the transition process of these young people and their unique needs pose a major challenge to parents, practitioners, administrators and policy makers. It also presents a compelling argument for designing transition systems around a solid framework of promising strategies that facilitate the vocational, social and community transition of these young people.