ABSTRACT

For more than twenty-fi ve years, federal legislation has played a major role in supporting the participation of youth with disabilities in secondary and postsecondary education programs, employment, and other aspects of community living. While an important policy framework has been advanced, and strides have been made in achieving the goals and intent of federal legislation, much more remains to be accomplished on behalf of youth and young adults with disabilities as they transition from school to adult life. Over the years, the federal government has assumed a key role in stimulating state and local efforts to improve transition services through a variety of policy, interagency, systems-change, model-demonstration, and research efforts ( Johnson, Stodden, Emanuel, Luecking, & Mack, 2002). A major impetus for investing in these initiatives has been the recognition that many young adults with disabilities exit school unprepared for adult life.