Resources
Search our Transition Database, find resources by topic, read our newsletters and more.Transition Database
RAISE partners with the Center for Parent Center Information and Resources (CPIR) to provide information on a variety of Transition-related topics. Parent Centers, families, and youth can search the Resource Database, courtesy of the CPIR.
Resources for Partners, Parent Centers & Families
Resources by Topic
(Click to go to any topic.)
Quick Links for Youth & Families
The network of Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) support families and youth throughout the US.
Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
JAN offers free, confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues.
Searchable Online Accommodation Resources (SOAR)
JAN’s SOAR system lets users explore accommodation options for people with disabilities in work and educational settings.
Social Security Administration: Ticket to Work
The SSA’s Ticket to Work program supports career development for Social Security disability beneficiaries who want to work.
Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)
With a PASS Plan, an individual with a disability can set aside money to pay for items/services to achieve a specific work goal.
ESSA: Quick Guides on Top Issues
This Quick Guides on Top Issues report from Education Commission of the States (ECS) addresses questions about ESSA.
Family Resource Guide from Transition TN
This guide includes transition topics including finances, family support, community supports, post-secondary education, health, independent living, and employment.
OSEP English to Spanish Glossary of Terms
New from RAISE
Transition Alphabet Soup! Find out what these acronyms mean?
Plain Language Made Easy
RAISE and PEATC collaborated to develop this resource guide and video in English and Spanish to assist people in making their documents accessible to everyone.
- The Importance of Using Plain Language explains how plain language makes information easier for people to read and to understand. En Espanol *
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Using Plain Language Video explains how using plain language makes it easier for people to understand. En Espanol *
Readable Print
These resource provide information on how to make printed text the most visually accessible.
- Creating Readable Print Materials explains the rules that will make text readable for everyone, including people with reading, language, or visual disabilities and their families.*
- Creating Readable Text is a video shows how to create readable print material *
RAISE’s Youth Development Toolkit for Parent Centers
Welcome to RAISE’s Youth Development Toolkit for Parent Centers. Developed in 2020 by RAISE in collaboration with other stakeholders, this toolkit is a resource for Parent Center professionals who are engaging youth on a regular basis and looking to take the next step in supporting youth development. This toolkit is meant to guide professionals and organizations in finding the many opportunities to incorporate programming centered in youth development. Providing meaningful participation to the youth that you serve will propel them forward in their journey of becoming empowered young adults.
RAISE’s Youth Leadership Toolkit for Parent Centers
Welcome to RAISE’s Youth Leadership Toolkit for Parent Centers. Developed in 2020 by RAISE in collaboration with other stakeholders, this toolkit is a resource for Parent Center professionals who are engaging youth on a regular basis, have begun to develop and recognize more skills in their youth, and are looking to take the next step in supporting youth leadership. This toolkit is meant to guide professionals and organizations in finding the many opportunities to incorporate programming centered in youth development. Providing meaningful participation to the youth that you serve will propel them forward in their journey of becoming empowered, self-directed, young adults.
Transition Alphabet Soup! What do these acronyms mean?
ABLE Account
Savings accounts for people with disabilities which allow them to keep benefits.
ACL Administration on Community Living
Maximizes independence for people with disabilities and older adults.
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
The civil rights law that prevents discrimination against people with disabilities.
ADL Activities of Daily Living
Everyday tasks people do to live and home and remain independent.
Career / Vocational Assessment
Tests that measure work-related skills and interests.
CBI: Community Based Instruction
Teaching skills, such as employment skills, in natural environments.
CIL Centers for Independent Living
Support community living and independent for people with disabilities.
Competitive Employment
A job which is paid at the same rate as wages paid to people without disabilities doing similar work.
Councils on Developmental Disabilities
Identify the needs of people with developmental disabilities in their state and work towards systems change to enhance independence.
Disability Rights
Called Protection and Advocacy in some states, they promote the rights of people with disabilities.
DDS-Division/Department of Disability Services
Provides information/referral to services for individuals with disabilities.
DHS-Department of Human Services
Protects health and wellbeing by providing essential human services, especially for vulnerable populations.
Dual Diagnosis
Refers to someone with co-occurring conditions such and developmental disability and mental illness, or mental illness and substance use.
DVR-Division of Vocational and Rehabilitative Services
Helps people with disabilities prepare for or maintain employment.
Group Home
Where people who are unrelated and need care live together, however this is not truly community based as people are grouped based on their condition.
Guardianship
A legal process in which someone else makes decisions for an adult; although this used to be widely accepted, it takes away the rights of the individual and supported decision-making is preferred.
Home Care
Care required in the home to maintain someone in their community, rather than institutional care.
HIPAA-Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
Protects private health information.
IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004
Federal special education law.
IEP: Individualized Education Program
The student’s educational plan which includes supports and services.
IEP Team
The team which includes parents and child study that develops the IEP.
Independent Living
Living like nondisabled peers with the ability to make decisions and choose activities.
IPE Individualized Plan for Employment
The job-related plan for employment and services need to reach employment goals.
Assists individuals with disabilities to learn or keep a job.
Job Training
Prepares people with disabilities for employment.
Medicaid
Public health coverage for low income or people with disabilities.
Medicare
Public health coverage for people with disabilities or those over 65.
PASS Plan for Achieving Self-Support
A savings plan for people with disabilities to reach a work goal.
Pre-Vocational
Pre-employment skills training to help people with disabilities get a job.
Pre-ETS Pre-Employment Transition Services
Provided to prepare students with disabilities for competitive employment.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Prohibits disability discrimination and provides services such as training for independent living.
Self-Advocacy
Being able to communicate needs and access services.
Self-Determination
Making decisions, setting goals, and self-advocacy.
Sheltered Workshop
Employs people with disabilities separately from others and pays below minimum wage.
SGA Substantial Gainful Activity
The level of work of non-disabled peers.
SNT Special/Supplemental Needs Trust
A savings plan that allows people with disabilities to maintain benefits.
Social Security
Assists retirees, survivors, and people with disabilities.
SSDI Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)
Disability benefits based on a work history.
SSI Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Cash assistance for people with disabilities who are not gainfully employed.
Supported Employment
Helps people with disabilities with supports to obtain inclusive/competitive employment.
Transition
Moving from school to adult life which includes health care, work, and independent living.
Transition Services
Plans what a student with disabilities wants to do post-school.
Work Incentives
Working while receiving disability benefits.
RAISE Year-end Review, December 2022
RAISE and the RSA-PCs have developed new resources—webinars, newsletters, and websites—to support transition into adulthood for students with disabilities in all US states and territories. Read more in this Special Year End Review edition of RAISE the Standard Newsletter. Learn what’s happening in your area and about available resources near you. Continue Reading RAISE Year-end Review, December 2022
The STANDARD: 9.1, Nov 2022
In this issue of RAISE The Standard, we explore what it means to bring a culturally competent approach to transition planning and why it is vital to do so. Continue Reading The STANDARD: 9.1, Nov 2022
The STANDARD: 8.8, Sept 2022
In this issue of RAISE The Standard, we look at health, well-being, and how adults can help to empower youth to take charge of their bodies and minds. Continue Reading The STANDARD: 8.8, Sept 2022
The STANDARD: 8.7, Aug 2022
In this issue of RAISE The Standard, we look at health, well-being, and how adults can help to empower youth to take charge of their bodies and minds. Continue Reading The STANDARD: 8.7, Aug 2022
The STANDARD: 8.6, June 2022
In this issue of RAISE The Standard, we unpack some of the issues and complexities of a transition to higher education. Continue Reading The STANDARD: 8.6, June 2022
The STANDARD: 8.5, May 2022
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so RAISE is taking this opportunity to raise awareness about mental health and related issues, including mental-health-friendly workplaces. Continue Reading The STANDARD: 8.5, May 2022
Webinars
RAISE hosts webinars for the RSA PTIs, individuals with disabilities and their families, and for our partners. Recordings of the webinar are available here and on our YouTube page. Each webinar is accompanied by a PowerPoint slide deck, a list of relevant resources, and other handouts for use by participants. Click on any title below to view that webinar in more detail.
Smart Home Technology: Leading to Independence Webinar- Jan 23
This webinar will introduce the power of Smart Home technology. Assistive technology does not need to be specialized or costly to be life-changing for students with disabilities and their families. In fact, generic, off-the-shelf, smart home devices can make it possible to live with greater independence, autonomy, safety, security, and joy!
Please join us for a “Smart Homes” webinar presented by Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) on Monday, January 23, 2023, at 2:00 pm. The webinar will walk through PATF’s new publication (English/Spanish) and corresponding Smart Homes website. It will provide you with the information you’ll need to help your community explore the most current smart home technology, create a framework to choose technology, and how to build a team to support this technology.
It will provide you with the information you’ll need to help students, families, and teachers learn about smart home devices, create a framework to match goals with devices, learn how to build a team to support this technology, and find additional resources. This guide is available to download.
New Date: Monday, Jan 23, 2023
Time: 2pm ET
ASL interpretation & Spanish interpretation will be offered!
Continue Reading Smart Home Technology: Leading to Independence Webinar- Jan 23
Creating Content: How to Engage Youth and Families Webinar- Sept 19
During this fun and engaging session, Katy Albert will train you on the best practices of social media engagement and creating social media content that will captivate and activate youth and families. The session will include a Q&A with Erin Thomson, Youth Advocate for Change committee member and Communications Consultant.
The webinar has the following objectives:
1. Educate attendees on best practices for social media content.
2. Showcase how social media content can be created to engage with, educate, and activate followers.
3. Empower attendees to get the most out of their efforts on social media.
Presenters: Katy Albert, VP, Blender Inc. and Erin Thomson, Youth Advocate for Change committee member and Communications Consultant
Date: Monday, Sept 19, 2022
Time: 2pm ET
ASL interpretation & Spanish interpretation will be offered!
Continue Reading Creating Content: How to Engage Youth and Families Webinar- Sept 19
8th Annual RAISE Summit Building new relationships in our new reality
The National RAISE will be hosting its first in-person Summit since 2019 on June 24 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Join us as we explore new research on important relationships for successful outcomes regarding youth engagement, RSA parent center efforts, and more.
Date: Friday, June 24
Time: 9am-3pm
Lunch will be provided
This summit will focus on developing and strengthening relationships with key partners to improve transition outcomes.
Continue Reading 8th Annual RAISE Summit Building new relationships in our new reality
Summit Resources
EVENTS
Reimagining Advocacy: Promoting an Authentic Transition to Adult Life
Reimagining Advocacy: Promoting an Authentic Transition to Adult Life
Nov 15, 2021 02:00 PM Eastern Time
Aligning advocacy activities with an often-changing transition landscape can be a challenge for parent training professionals. Providing effective supports to families requires moving away from traditional compliance-based strategies and moving towards an approach that treats transition as a very human, lifespan activity. This webinar will highlight various ways parent advocacy professionals can adjust and improve their transition supports to families, including examining the pitfalls of systems-based thinking, weaving transition into a continuum of advocacy services, and using a lifespan approach to help families embrace transition sooner.
Presenters:
Sean Roy is the Chief Innovation and Training Officer for TransCen Inc.
Dr. Ann Deschamps is Vice President of TransCen Inc.
Laura A. Owens, Ph.D., CESP, has over 30 years of experience as a national leader in the transition and disability employment field. She is currently the President of TransCen, Inc. (TCI).
Continue Reading Reimagining Advocacy: Promoting an Authentic Transition to Adult Life
RAISE Transition Summit 2021
Transition in this Brave New World: Please join us on June 21st and June 28th for professional development, networking, and sharing as we work together to improve transition outcomes for young adults with disabilities.
Day 1: Monday, June 21
2:00pm- 4:00pm ET
Day 2: Monday, June 28
2:00pm- 4:00pm ET
leadership summits
The RAISE Center’s Advisory Partnership consists of 21 board members, including self-advocates, disability activists, the seven RSA-funded PTIs, and professional partners. They give feedback on RAISE work and materials and are active in the product development work groups. This partnership meets on quarterly conference calls, attends annual face-to-face summits and meetings, working together on an ongoing basis to provide TA to those who need it.
Past summits are listed below, with accompanying materials provided for reference.
♦ RAISE Summit 2020
Click above for all documents, links, and other resources pertaining to the 2020 RAISE Summit (Virtual)
♦ RAISE Summit 2019
Click above for all documents, links, and other resources pertaining to the 2018 RAISE Summit in Orlando, FL, in conjunction with APSE.
♦ RAISE Summit 2018
Click above for all documents, links, and other resources pertaining to the 2018 RAISE Summit in Orlando, FL, in conjunction with APSE.
♦ RAISE Summit 2017
Click above for all documents, links, and other resources pertaining to the September 2017 RAISE Summit in East Rutherford, NJ.
♦ RAISE Summit 2016
Click above for all documents, links, and other resources pertaining to the May 2016 RAISE Summit.
RAISE Center Blog
The RAISE Center Blog is a section of the website that is more personal and includes articles from Co-Director Josie Badger and the occasional guest blogger on Transition-related issues from an “insider’s” perspective.
The opinions expressed on these blogs are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent SPAN or RAISE ideas.
To read the entries in full, click on the titles below or go directly to the blog at raisecenter.wordpress.com. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed to get updates on newly published entries.
Are you interested in reading other blog topics? Would you like to be a guest blogger? Fill out our survey here.
Search
Here are some suggested search keywords: Transition, Employment, Graduation, Healthcare, Health and Wellness, Education, Training, Youth Development, College, Postsecondary, Self Determination, Independent Living, Law, Policy(ies), Rights, Regulations, or other keywords. The tabs that show up in the results will filter the search even more.