The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) administers programs that assist in educating children and youth with disabilities and provides funding for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for youth and adults with disabilities. OSERS established the Transition Steering Committee to focus specifically on the services, needs, and outcomes of youth with disabilities who may benefit from the work conducted and services authorized by its program component offices. This committee, also known as "Transition Tigers," includes staff members from both OSERS program component offices:

• Office of the Assistant Secretary (OAS)

  • Office of Policy and Planning (OPP)

  • Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)

  • Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)

Federal Partners in Transition (FPT) Fact Sheets

Assistant Secretary Michael K. Yudin, for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the Department of Education, and Jennifer Sheehy, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the Department of Labor, are the chairpersons for the Federal Partners in Transition (FPT) workgroup. In February 2015, FPT published The 2020 Federal Youth Transition Plan: A Federal Interagency Strategy (Plan). To address priorities and goals of this Plan, two transition related fact sheets were published to improve education and outreach to the public about policies and practices governing transition services and transition programs. OSERS, along with FPT members, are pleased to share:

• What to Know About Work-Based Learning Experiences for Students and Youth with Disabilities
   [PDF, 495KB]

• What to Know About Transition Services for Students and Youth with Disabilities
   [PDF, 446KB]

OSERS Transition Data Fact Sheet

OSERS provides funds to support transition services, transition programs, technical assistance projects, and research projects related to youth with disabilities. However, the committee found that program-specific data about OSERS transition work are not frequently summarized and not readily available to OSERS staff across its component offices and the general public, especially members of the transition community. To address this need, the committee developed the Transition Data Fact Sheet as a quick reference to inform OSERS staff and the transition community about critical data areas related to the transition of youth with disabilities from school activities to post-school activities. For the purposes of this document, "transition" is defined as the passage from secondary education to participating in postsecondary education, training or both, engaging in meaningful employment, living within one's community, exercising self-determination, and contributing to society as productive citizens.

The data in this fact sheet are presented for OSERS staff and others to use in their work and to draw their own conclusions from the data provided. The Transition Data Fact Sheet is intended to be a reference tool and should not be treated as a comprehensive document. It is organized into three areas of emphasis:

• transition services;
• post-school outcomes; and
• OSERS investments in transition–related research, special education and VR services.

It is important to note that most of the data and information presented are primarily specific to youth with disabilities between the ages of 14 and 24.

 [PDF, 495KB]
 

Transition Activities in OSERS
The 2013 Transition Activities in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services includes OSERS organizational structure and OSERS transition activities identified by each program component within OSERS:

• Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
• Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)

 [PDF, 580KB]
 

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