Guidebook

Six Core Elements of Health Care Transition

Health care transition, or HCT, is the process of moving from a child/family-centered model of health care to an adult/patient-centered model of health care, with or without transferring to a new clinician. It involves planning, transfer, and integration into adult-centered health care. There’s a federally funded national resource center on health care transition (HCT) called Got Transition®. The Center has just issued the 3rd edition of its Six Core Elements of Health Care Transition, which lays out the basic components of a structured transition process and includes an Implementation Guide and customizable sample tools in English and Spanish. Read more about this revised and updated toolkit and access its different components in either English or Spanish here.

Advocacy in Action: A Guide to Local Special Education Parent Advisory Councils

Practice Guides for Families

The ECTA Center offers a collection of Practice Improvement Tools to support early childhood specialists in using evidence-based practices with young children experiencing developmental delays or disabilities. This large set of tools includes Family Practice Guides that practitioners can share with families to illustrate recommended practices that can be used at home. There are more than 25 guides available, on topics ranging from parent involvement in their child’s assessment, learning activities for the child that parents can provide, and teaming with professionals.

Each of the guides is available in English and Spanish and comes with a brief video, a scenario, and changes to expect as a result of using the practices with a given child. Find out more about, and access, the Family Practice Guides here.

AIM Basics for Families

Update March 22, 2019 | This web resource explains the concept of accessible instructional materials (AIM) to families of students with disabilities. The document helps families and other members of a child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team decide: whether the student needs Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM), what type of specialized format the student needs, how […]

Charting the LifeCourse Toolkit

This toolkit is designed to help caregivers understand the value of respite, learn from real life examples, and create a respite plan that enhances the lives of all family members. It’s meant for family caregivers of a child or adult with a disability, chronic condition, or functional limitation (or professionals who work with family caregivers). The toolkit, which is available in English and Spanish, is built upon the Charting the LifeCourse Framework, which was created BY FAMILIES to help individuals and families of all abilities and all ages: (a) develop a vision for a good life, (b) think about what they need to know and do, (c) identify how to find or develop supports, and (d) discover what it takes to live the lives they want to live.

School Discipline Data Indicators: A Guide for Districts and Schools

(2017, April) | Useful to educators, schools, and districts in identifying and addressing racial/ethnic disproportionality in discipline practices. Also useful to Parent Centers involved in their state’s ESSA planning with respect to disproportionality. This guide from the Institute of Education Sciences is designed to supply educators with a means to identify whether racial/ethnic disproportionality in […]

A Camp for Everyone! A Guide to Including Children of All Abilities in Summer Camp Programs

A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities

(2017, May) | Useful to: Parent Centers and families involved in transition of students with disabilities to postsecondary education and employment.

On March 27, 2017, President Trump signed Public Law No. 115-13, rescinding the Department of Education’s regulations relating to accountability and state plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). OSERS has removed references to the now rescinded ESSA regulations and reissued “A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities.”
Access the revised Transition Guide

Developing Culturally Responsive Approaches to Serving Diverse Populations: A Resource Guide for Community-Based Organizations

(2017, March) | Useful to Parent Centers and other service providers who work with diverse populations. As communities become more culturally and linguistically diverse, community-based service organizations (CBOs) are called to do more to reduce disparities in access and use of important social services. An important strategy is developing cultural competency—behaviors, attitudes, and policies that […]

Webinar | Using Data for Collaboration and Advocacy

This webinar will help Parent Centers hone their skills in finding, understanding, and using data to make sure that the needs and interests of students with disabilities and their families are addressed in decision-making discussions about how states will implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).