Independent Living Program - Florida's Center for Child Welfare

To students withdisabilities andtheir families,friends, teachers,special educationteachers,guidancecounselors,vocationalrehabilitationcounselorsand transitioncoordinators.Letters From Sponsors ...Letters From Sponsors ...Federal law guarantees every student witha disability the right to assistance in movingfrom the school to post secondary activities.“Disability is a natural part of the humanexperience,” wrote the United StatesCongress in passing this legislation, “and inno way diminishes the right of individuals toparticipate in or contribute to society.”At the Advocacy Center, we work to advancethe dignity, equality, self-determination andexpressed choices of people with disabilities.Transition planning is intended to providepeople with disabilities the supports andservices they need to reach their dreams andthat will lead them to become independentadults. As with all good intentions, the realitycan sometimes fall short. Because transitionis so critical to a student’s future, knowingyour rights can save years of wasted time.Above all, knowing the law and having the highestexpectations for the rights it confers will spur allof us to achieve more than we ever imagined.This handbook is designed to give you a basicunderstanding of the rights of students withdisabilities and the obligations of the specialeducation system under the law. If, after readingit, you have further questions, please call theAdvocacy Center for Persons with Disabilitiestoll free at 1-800-342-0823. It is our mission toensure that Floridians with disabilities have thefree and appropriate public education that is theirright. And we believe there is no time to waste.Youth in the care and custody ofthe State of Florida have the rightto state assistance in becomingindependent and self-sufficientadults. Each year over 1,000youth in state care become legaladults without the support of apermanent family. Recognizingthat if it can’t give them afamily, it can at least provideinstitutional support, in the lastfew years the State of Floridahas made numerous advancesin law and policy to enhance itssupport to youth who becomeadults while in state care.Florida's Children First iscommitted to advocating for therights of youth in state care. Wethank the Advocacy Center forPersons with Disabilities forcollaborating on this importantproject. The laws and programsare in place to provide aframework for successfultransition planning, but theyare not well known. We hopethat by using this publication,youth and the adults who workwith them will gain a betterunderstanding of how Florida andfederal law can be used togetherto provide for a successfultransition to adulthood.Sincerely,The Staff of the Advocacy Center forPersons with Disabilities, Inc.Sincerely,The Staff of Florida'sChildren First, Inc.1