A child’s transition to adulthood can leave you feeling overwhelmed and unprepared. There are significant changes that come with your young adult’s 18^th birthday.

Parents and guardians have extensive to-do lists with finding new programs, new community supports, LOTS of paperwork, and legal decisions to be made. But rest assured that resources are available to help your family navigate these waters.

What is “Integrated” Transition Planning?

Integrated transition planning means planning for what will change as your child becomes an adult, focusing on creating a path to living a full, meaningful and connected life as a community member. It’s planning with attention to all of the pieces of the transition puzzle, including employment, healthcare, housing, post-secondary education (college or technical school), friendships, and leisure activities.

The Wisconsin Integrated Transition Planning Project (WITPP) aims to find ways for youth with disabilities and their families to get better information about healthcare, education and employment services, to make the transition to adulthood easier. As a partner of WITPP, Family Voices of Wisconsin created the following fact sheets on integrated transition (also available in Spanish), with more coming in 2023 and 2024.

• An Introduction to Integrated Transition Planning
• Youth Fully Participating and Engaged in Their Community
• Transition Planning for Youth with Mental-Health Needs
• Planning for Employment

Pieces of the Transition Puzzle

These questions are pieces of the transition puzzle that you might want to think about.

Home: Will my child live at home or move out?

Education: Will my child graduate at 18 or continue through age 21? Does my child want to go to college or technical school?

Employment: What type of work does my child want to do? And, which supports may be needed to make them successful?

Community:  What will my adult child want to do for fun, to make friends and stay active? Are programs available in the community?

Health: Can my child take care of their own health care and insurance needs? Will my child need to move to new adult medical providers?

Dream about your child’s best life as an adult. Let this vision drive your advocacy to ensure your child gets the services and supports they need during this time of transition.

Learn More

Remember, you don’t have to do this alone! Resources are available as you prepare for your child’s transition to adulthood. The Family Voices learning session, What’s After High School? has on-demand videos and resource links. We also have a variety of fact sheets to guide you in learning about adult long-term support programs like Family Care and IRIS. Search transition in our website’s Resource Library to find more valuable materials.

ADRCs

Contact your county’s Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC)when your child is 17 ½. ADRCs can help you apply for adult programs and services, provide benefits counseling, help with residential opinions, and more.