Transition Plan: Purposes and Outcomes

Transition: Conceptual Framework of General Purposes

A Transition Plan for Young Adults with Medically Fragile Conditions is intended:

  • To assist that individual in maintaining needs-based benefits; i.e., Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid, and thereby ensure continuity of appropriate support and services.
  • To give the individual with a medically fragile condition an opportunity to receive tangible assets (financial and personal property) during his/her lifetime, which may enable him or her to have a better quality of life.
  • To give persons with medically fragile conditions and profound disabilities as much control as possible over where they live, with whom they live and in who assists them in their daily life.
  • To offer choices and personal preferences, whenever possible.
  • To offer families support and comfort about their child’s future to the greatest degree possible.

Transition: Conceptual Framework of Specific Outcomes

The key elements in a transition plan (8) are designed to produce the following outcomes or results. For each topic below, there is a corresponding section to provide more information and specific assistance. Families of medically fragile young adults will want to:

  • Move from School-Based to Adult Services: School to adult daytime post-high school programs that could include employment, volunteer, education or training programs based on youth preferences, skills, talents, or interests.
  • Move from Pediatric to Adult Medical Care: Transition from a pediatrician and child medical care specialists to adult physicians and adult medical care specialists keeping the same quality of care and services.
  • Select an Appropriate Living Situation:  This decision can vary depending on medical needs and can include extended stays in a hospital, a nursing home, a family home or other residential alternatives available through disability-based agencies such as supervised, supportive home and community based settings.
  • Develop a Quality Long-Term Care Plan at Home or in a Community Setting, including Adult medical home utilizing Consumer Directed Personal Attendant Services (CDPAS) or other Medicaid Waiver Programs.
  • Develop a Financial Plan and Legal Plan