Webinar: Transition Planning for Youth with Disabilities - News and Updates

Juvenile Law Center,
Screenshot of webinar slide.

We're partnering with the Support Center for Child Advocates to produce a webinar training series for child welfare and juvenile justice professionals! Youth with disabilities are significantly over-represented in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system, and planning for the transition from those systems to a successful adulthood presents unique challenges. Support Center for Child Advocates, Center for Excellence in Advocacy is approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors to offer continuing education for social workers, marriage and family therapists and professional counselors. Support Center for Child Advocates, Center for Excellence in Advocacy maintains responsibility for the program(s).

Over the last few months, there have been several important state and federal policy changes that affect system-involved youth with disabilities, including:

  • A new Social Security Administration policy to help youth transitioning out of foster care access Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Changes in the use of APPLA as a permanency goal and other news about Pennsylvania’s implementation of the Strengthening Families Act (SFA)
  • The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the release of federal guidance on ensuring educational stability for children in foster care
  • The expansion of youth services through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) in response to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

Click here to watch this webinar >>

Expert Contributors include:

  • Jenny Pokempner, Child Welfare Policy Director at Juvenile Law Center
  • Kate Burdick, Staff Attorney at Juvenile Law Center
  • Karen U. Lindell, Skadden Fellow at Juvenile Law Center
  • Lucy Johnston-Walsh, Clinical Professor and Director of the Children’s Advocacy Clinic at the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will understand how to use SSI as a tool for transition-age youth, and they will learn about the SSA’s new policy expanding the application window for foster youth.
  • Participants will learn about new developments in Pennsylvania’s implementation of the Strengthening Families Act, particularly the APPLA restrictions and normalcy provisions of the statute.
  • Participants will learn about key provisions of ESSA and will gain tools and resources on the law that can aid them in their practice.
  • Participants will discover how to access “Pre-Employment Transition Services” and other OVR services for youth.