What's New

Free Health Care Transition Training Program

A new web-based curriculum for nurses, social workers, physicians and other professionals who work with students with disabilities or chronic health conditions is approved for up to four FREE Continuing Education credits through Gulfcoast North AHEC. A brochure about the Health Care Transition Training Program, developed by Dr. John Reiss at the University of Florida, is posted on the Florida Health and Transition Services (FloridaHATS) web site at http://www.floridahats.org (go to Toolbox, then Education & Training, then scroll down to For Professionals), or go directly to http://www.aheceducation.com/ to begin the module.


Changes to Bright Futures Scholarships

The Florida Legislature has passed several changes to the lottery-funded Bright Futures Scholarships that will go into effect for high school students graduating in the 2010-2011 and subsequent school years. The changes include reducing the maximum number of credit hours paid by the scholarship from 110% to 100% of required credit hours, reducing the amount of time during which a student may use a scholarship from 7 to 5 years after high school graduation, and changing the requirements for renewing scholarship awards for students whose GPAs fall below specified levels during their first postsecondary year. The following year, i.e., for 2011-2012 high school graduates, minimum SAT and ACT scores required for the scholarships will increase. Full information on the changes will be provided on the Florida Student Scholarship & Grant Programs Web site later this summer at http://wwwfloridastudentfinancialaid.org/ssfad/factsheets/BF.htm  

Career Cruiser Guides Available On-Line Only

The Florida Department of Education announced in a June 8, 2010 memo (available at http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5791/dps-2010-90.pdf) that the Career Cruiser career and education planning guide and its companion guide for teachers will be available exclusively on-line at http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/publicat.asp. Due to budget restrictions, FDOE will no longer ship the guide directly to school districts.

Transition Works!

Check out the Spring 2010 edition of the The Transition Times for stories of students successfully transitioning to careers, resources and tips ("attitude is everything"), and a short article on Project 10’s Regional Transition Representative for Region 4, Federico Valadez. The Transition Times is produced biannually by School District of Manatee County Adult, Career & Technical Education and can be accessed, with several other inspiring publications, at http://act.manateeschools.net/.

Grants Available for Promoting Inclusion

Public schools and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply for CVS Caremark grants of up to $5,000 for programs for children with disabilities including those "promoting a greater level of inclusion in student activities and extracurricular programs." For more information, go to http://info.cvscaremark.com/community/our-impact/community-grants and click on the appropriate category under "Community Grants" on the left. Applications will be accepted until October 31, 2010.

The New Health Care Law

Confused about the new health care law and how it will impact youth and people with disabilities?  The PACER Center has compiled a list of provisions of special interest and related resources at http://www.pacer.org/tatra/pdf/healthcareact2010.pdf. Note: P.L. 111-148, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, was signed into law on March 23, 2010; provisions that will go into effect six months after its effective date (such as the one that allows parents to extend health insurance coverage for dependents up to age 26) will take effect September 23, 2010.

New Youth Health Care Guide

A new health insurance guide for (1) youth with and without disabilities, ages 18-30, living in Florida and (2) their families, caregivers, guardians, and other adult helpers is available at http://www.floridahats.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/JUST-THE-FACTS_Final-Low-Res.pdf. The guide was produced by FloridaHATS (Health And Transition Services), a program of the Florida Department of Health, Children’s Medical Services, and was funded by the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc. Public and private insurance options are discussed, including preliminary information on changes resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

New Postsecondary Education Readiness Test to Debut

The Florida Department of Education’s May 5, 2010, press release announced that the new Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) will be available to high school and college students in August 2010. The new test is aligned with the Florida Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards and will assess the knowledge and skills required for proper placement and success at Florida colleges. Read the press release at http://www.fldoe.org/news/2010/2010_05_05-3.asp

The Condition of Education

The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences released The Condition of Education 2010 report at the end of May. The Council for Exceptional Children noted several characteristics of special education in the report including (1) the number of students with disabilities declined from 2004-2005 to 2007-2008, (2) 39% of students with disabilities have specific learning disabilities, (3) 57% of students with disabilities spend more than 80% of the school day in general education classrooms, and (4) the overall student to teacher ratio declined from 1990-1991 to 2007-2008. Read the IES report at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010028 and the Council for Exceptional Children Policy Insider observations on the report at http://cecblog.typepad.com/policy/2010/06/annual-report-on-condition-of-education-released-special-education-enrollment-down.html