Independent Living Program - Florida's Center for Child Welfare

School BasedTransition PlansWhat are they?Who has them?Basically, four planshave been createdunder federal law toprotect young peoplewith disabilitiesfrom discriminationin education andemployment.Depending on which laws cover them andwhat stage of transition they’re in, youngpeople with disabilities will have one ormore — probably at least two — of thesefour official types of school-based plans:The IEPIndividualized Education Plan — is a detailed, legaldocument that indicates the supports and servicesa student with a disability will receive in order to beprovided a free and appropriate public education.IDEA requires that all the students it covers — thatis, students in special education — have IEPs, whichare written by teams that vary in compositionaccording to the needs of each student. IEPsare updated at least every year. If you feelyour plan needs to be changed or clarifiedyou can request an interim review.Students who are covered by IDEA and requiredto have IEPs are between the ages of 3 and 22,are evaluated by the appropriate professionals,and are determined by a multidisciplinary team tobe eligible because of one or more of 13 specificcategories of disability. The categories are AutismSpectrum Disorder, Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing, DualSensory Impaired (deaf-blindness), CognitivelyImpaired, Physically Impaired, Other Health Impaired,Emotional/Behavioral Disability, Specific LearningDisabilities, Speech or Language Impairment,Traumatic Brain Injury, and Visually Impaired.Those who are covered by IDEA are also eligible forassistance under Section 504 of the RehabilitationAct, but during the person’s school years, therequirements of IDEA are more specific. To be sure8a child receives the services he or she needs, IDEAspells out a concrete and specific process. Thatprocess guarantees that useful steps will be takento give the child equal access to an education.504 PlansStudents with disabilities who are not covered byIDEA – that is, students who need accommodationsin education but do not need specially designedinstruction — have a plan similar in purpose to theIEP. Because it comes from Section 504 of theRehabilitation Act, it is most often called a“504 Plan.”A 504 plan, like an IEP, specifies the steps tobe taken to give the young person an equalchance to be educated. It describes the kindof education that is right for him or her andthe accommodations to make it possible.Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act coverspeople who have a physical or mental disabilitythat substantially limits one of the legallydefined major life activities — walking, seeing,hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working,caring for oneself or performing manual tasks— but do not need the special instruction andrelated services that are covered by IDEA.The 504 plan can and should be handled as carefullyand thoroughly as the law requires for an IEP.The person with a disability, his or her parents orsurrogate parent and an advocate has a right to insiston a thorough process and all necessary servicesand benefits for which the student is eligible.