Leaving Special Education: the transition starts 12 months before

It is what comes after Special Education. When a person with a disability leaves the school system, they stop having an IEP and a team answering for them; this Act creates the office that picks them up on the other side — a division inside the Department of Health for adults twenty-two and over — and, above all, it sets when that step must start being prepared. The answer is: one year before leaving, and it can start at fourteen.

The Division is created “for the purpose of serving the population of adults with disabilities, twenty-two (22) and over,” and the Act calls that population “eligible participants.” The Act publishes no income thresholds and no catalogue of diagnoses: it defines the population by age and by disability. For someone coming from Special Education, the Act adds a process condition: the transition assessment must be carried out at least twelve months before leaving the Program “and becoming eligible for the Division’s services.”

• Be an adult with a disability, twenty-two (22) or over.Verified against the official source
• For someone coming from the Special Education Program: that the transition assessment have been carried out at least twelve (12) months before leaving the Program.Verified against the official source

• A copy of the latest Individualized Education Program (IEP).
• Report of psychological, psycho-educational or psychometric evaluations, which must be no more than two years old.
• Medical treatment summary; diagnosis, treatment and recommendations for psychological or psychiatric treatment.
• Occupational evaluation, social evaluation and every service provided by public or private institutions supporting the transition.
• Evidence of authorization to disclose private information under HIPAA and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

1. 1

   Step 1: The date you cannot miss: twelve months before leaving

   It is the most actionable thing in the whole Act, which is why it goes first. “Every transition process from the Special Education Program to community life must begin with an assessment of the participant. This process may begin once the person turns fourteen (14), but must always be carried out at least twelve (12) months before leaving that Program and becoming eligible for the services of the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Independent Living Division.” You can start at fourteen; you cannot start in the last month.

2. 2

   Step 2: The file the school must prepare

   It is not your task alone: “The Special Education Program or the private organization that provided education to the potential participant must prepare a file, preferably electronic, containing a copy of the student’s IEP, as well as all information on treatment or services provided to them while under the Program’s services.” The Act lists the minimum: academic history; clinical history not limited to individualized treatment but covering treatment plans, pharmacotherapy, treatment modalities, intervention strategies, short- and long-term goals and specific recommendations from professionals; evaluation of academic, vocational and independent-living aptitudes and interests; and social adaptation history.

3. 3

   Step 3: Who does the vocational evaluation

   The Act names it: the evaluation of academic, vocational and independent-living aptitudes and interests “must be carried out by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration or a qualified service provider, with a view to steering toward development opportunities according to the participant’s capacities, skills and interests.” Two alternatives, not two requirements.

4. 4

   Step 4: Twelve months’ notice for the provider too

   The Act repeats the deadline from the other side: “Every service provider must refer and submit, at least twelve (12) months before the formal transition process, the following information: a copy of the latest Individualized Education Program (IEP), report of psychological, psycho-educational or psychometric evaluations (no more than two years old); medical treatment summary; diagnosis, treatment and recommendations for psychological and/or psychiatric treatment; occupational evaluation, social evaluation and every service provided by public or private institutions supporting the transition.” And it adds the permission: “evidence of authorization to disclose private information is required under the ‘Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996’ and the ‘Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.’”

5. 5

   Step 5: What services the Division offers

   Article 7 lists them “without limitation” in six areas, naming the professional for each. Functional behaviour analysis, assessing the level of functioning across contexts and what responses might be expressed under specific conditions. Sensory processing, which “must be carried out by an Occupational Therapist” and whose recommendations “shall form part of the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Plan.” Communication, where “the Speech Therapist shall provide effective alternatives for developing verbal and non-verbal communication skills.” Social skills and adaptation, handled by “a licensed health or behaviour professional, such as counsellors, psychologists or social workers.” Assistive technology, under Act 264-2000 and carried out by “a licensed health or behaviour professional with certification in assistive technology.” And family assistance.

6. 6

   Step 6: The Comprehensive Rehabilitation Plan

   It is the adult equivalent of the IEP, and the Act puts it among the Division’s responsibilities: “to use rehabilitation counsellors to obtain information about eligible participants, who must carry out an assessment process, to develop a comprehensive rehabilitation plan, which shall be evaluated in accordance with the profession’s best practices.” The Division must also “coordinate with other agencies the necessary services” and “develop and implement re-evaluation and follow-up protocols.”

7. 7

   Step 7: The registry that follows the person, and your authorization

   Article 9 orders the Department of Health, through the Division and together with Puerto Rico’s Health Information Electronic Exchange Corporation, to establish a state registry fed by information from the various agencies “throughout the life of a person with a disability.” The Act describes the route: the file begins at Health with compulsory newborn screening, transfers to the Auxiliary Secretariat of Special Education at school age, and then to the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration. And it sets the lock before any movement: “Prior to transmission or authorization for electronic access, authorization to disclose private information from the participant or their guardian, where they are incapacitated to decide for themselves, shall be required.”

8. 8

   Step 8: The three-year transition, and what we cannot assert

   The Act gave itself a deadline and that deadline has passed. Article 10 provided that “within a period no greater than three (3) years or before September 30, 2019, the said Division must be in full operation with all the provisions contained in this Act,” and that meanwhile “the objectives and responsibilities attributed to the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Independent Living Division shall be offered by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration, through its Independent Living administrative component and its Independent Living Centers.” The compilation we read does not say whether the Division is in full operation today, and we neither assert nor deny it. What we do publish is the name of the route the Act itself designated for the transitional period, because that is the one the Act names.

9. 9

   Step 9: Who answers if it does not work

   The Act splits the responsibility and uses a strong word: “The Secretary of Health and the Vocational Rehabilitation Administrator shall be jointly and severally responsible for implementing the provisions contained in this Act.” And it empowers both “to enter into, with each other or with other public or private entities, collaborative agreements or arrangements.” Article 13 adds that every agency, instrumentality or municipality providing services to adults with disabilities had to conform its norms and regulations to this public policy within ninety (90) days.

The Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Independent Living Division is attached to the Department of Health, under the Auxiliary Secretariat of Family Health and Integrated Services. The Act designates the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration, through its Independent Living component and its Independent Living Centers, to offer these functions during the transitional period the Act itself set, and makes the Secretary of Health and the Vocational Rehabilitation Administrator jointly and severally responsible. The Act publishes no address, telephone or form, and we do not invent them. If what you need is the essential-services voucher for a person aged 21 to 59 with a significant disability, that is another Act and we have a separate guide.

• Starting the transition in the last school year: the assessment must be carried out at least twelve months before leaving the Program.
• Not knowing it can start at fourteen: the Act expressly allows it from that age.
• Expecting the school to act without authorization: disclosing the file requires evidence of authorization under HIPAA and FERPA.
• Bringing old psychological evaluations: the Act asks that they be no more than two years old.
• Looking for the services at Education: the Division is attached to the Department of Health.
• Assuming the Division is fully operating: the Act gave itself until September 30, 2019 and the compilation reports no compliance.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico

  Salud

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov