>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Do you have legal staff? >> DAVID: We do not have legal staff, but we do make legal re-referrals. We have a couple members of our board of directors that are attorneys that provide some advice and counsel. But, no, we don't have legal staff. >> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you. >> DAVID: Good question, though. Other questions? If I'm talking too fast -- I told the interpreters earlier if I'm talking to fast, just yell at me or something. So, youth transition, why is it important? I think this is really one of those -- the five areas of youth transition that we operate under in our state are employment, home living, recreation and leisure, post-secondary education, and community participation. And those are the five goals of our transition program is to focus individuals on those choices. We recognize that not every student in a secondary educational program is going to necessarily be looking for a post-secondary educational opportunity. They may choose not to do that. They may choose to go right from that secondary setting into an employment setting. But our point is to focus on these five areas and make sure in their IEP planning, in their IEP process, in their family planning that they're doing with their parents and siblings and so forth, that these five areas are addressed so that they have a well rounded and balanced life when they come out of that secondary setting. So essentially the purpose of youth transition is to ensure that the youth, the young adult, will gain the skills, the knowledge, and the interagency relationships that they may need to establish their long-range goals for their independence after high school. One of the things that we've noted in Minnesota, and I'm sure that many of you noticed this as well in your homes, in your communities where you provide services, is historically and even now traditionally we don't really talk a lot with youth about life after high school. We don't really promote that perception with youth with disabilities. And I think that's really unfortunate.
>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Do you have legal staff? >> DAVID: We do not have legal staff, but we do make legal re-referrals. We have a couple members of our board of directors that are attorneys that provide some advice and counsel. But, no, we don't have legal staff. >> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you. >> DAVID: Good question, though. Other questions? If I'm talking too fast -- I told the interpreters earlier if I'm talking to fast, just yell at me or something. So, youth transition, why is it important? I think this is really one of those -- the five areas of youth transition that we operate under in our state are employment, home living, recreation and leisure, post-secondary education, and community participation. And those are the five goals of our transition program is to focus individuals on those choices. We recognize that not every student in a secondary educational program is going to necessarily be looking for a post-secondary educational opportunity. They may choose not to do that. They may choose to go right from that secondary setting into an employment setting. But our point is to focus on these five areas and make sure in their IEP planning, in their IEP process, in their family planning that they're doing with their parents and siblings and so forth, that these five areas are addressed so that they have a well rounded and balanced life when they come out of that secondary setting. So essentially the purpose of youth transition is to ensure that the youth, the young adult, will gain the skills, the knowledge, and the interagency relationships that they may need to establish their long-range goals for their independence after high school. One of the things that we've noted in Minnesota, and I'm sure that many of you noticed this as well in your homes, in your communities where you provide services, is historically and even now traditionally we don't really talk a lot with youth about life after high school. We don't really promote that perception with youth with disabilities. And I think that's really unfortunate.
041012_transcript_Hancox.docx