In 1984, Madeleine Will then assistant secretary of Special Education for the U.S. Department of Education, wrote an article entitled, "OSERS (Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services) programming for the transition of youth with disabilities:  Bridges from school to working life*," which changed the way transition services were viewed.  In the past, adult service agencies like the Department of Rehabilitation viewed their services as being provided only in a time limited fashion.  In fact, Rehabilitation even had an eligibility criteria statement which said that clients must be able to "benefit from services."  Being that the services provided were only time limited services, a huge group of people were denied services.

Ms. Will stated that there were actually 3 bridges from high school to employment.  

The first bridge is "no special services."  Will wrote, "The first bridge from school to employment is shared by many individuals with disabilities and their non-disabled peers.  Individuals making the transition in this way rely on their own resources or those generally available to all citizens, locating and taking advantage of  work opportunities without using special disability services.  This is not to day special accommodations for the needs of persons with disabilities are not made, but in this pathway these accommodations are made within generic services.  For example, some individuals obtain employment at the end of high school programs using contacts gain through work experience programs.  Others attend postsecondary education institutions and gain skills that lead to ore advanced employment options.  Still others locate their own employment through family contacts, neighborhood networks, or short-term volunteer jobs.  The number of disabled individuals who make their own way from school to employment is unknown, although the size of this group probably varies with job availability, quality of schooling, and access to generic services."

This is the pathway taken by most people.  You go to school, you graduate, and you get a job (unless you are a teacher, then you go to school, you graduate, you go to school, you graduate, you go to school, you graduate and then you go to school forever).  In relation to employment, the outcome would be competitive employment.

The second bridge is "time limited special services."  Will says, "The second bridge from school to working life consists of temporary services that lead to employment.  After leaving school, individuals following this path used specialized, time-limited services like vocational rehabilitation, postsecondary vocational education, and other job training programs to gain entry into the labor market.  The presence of a disability often qualifies an individual for these services or creates special support for participation.  for example, many individuals find employment after receiving relatively brief services in rehabilitation facilities.  Others receive support to attend specific job training and then obtain employment at the close of the course.  Access to such time-limited services is generally restricted to individuals thought capable of making it on their own after services are completed.  Vocational rehabilitation offers perhaps the best known time-limited services."

These individuals, upon completing high school, receive special services from one or more adult service agencies for a time limited period.  That is, they will not always need services.  There will come a time when special services are no longer required.  So for example, a student with learning disabilities graduates from high school, goes off to college, and receives services from the Disabled Students Services Office of the university.  Upon completion of their degree, Rehabilitation may step in to help the student find a job, and the relationship with special services stops.  If needed the individual with disability can pick up the services again, however, once again they would be provided on a time limited basis.

The third bridge was the one which brought new thinking to adult services.  Ms. Will wrote that "To improve employment with ongoing support, OSERS has developed a new supported employment initiative which would assist interested states to shift from day activity programs to work alternatives."   This third pathway, "ongoing special services" was an entirely new adult outcome.  Although this sounds quite simple, the impact was profound.  Human services might be expected to provide services for an individual's entire life.  As a result, services had to be redesigned.  People had to rethink what was an acceptable adult outcome.  The program which in many ways championed this change  was supported employment.  People who in the past might be lucky to find a sheltered workshop position were now finding themselves in the community working along side of non-disabled people.

It is arguable that Madeleine Will's conceptualization of adult outcomes was the final mental shove that pushed human services into the development of ongoing services.

*Conference proceedings document, "Enhancing tranisiton from school to the workplace for handicapped youth."  complied by Janis Chadsey-Rusch.  National Network for Professional Development in Vocational Education (April, 1984).

You can email Dr. McNair at jmcnair@calbaptist.edu

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