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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 14-8.03 as follows:
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| 6 | (105 ILCS 5/14-8.03) (from Ch. 122, par. 14-8.03)
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| 7 | Sec. 14-8.03. Transition services.
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| 8 | (a) For For purposes of this Section, "transition services" | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | disability that (i) is designed to be within a results-oriented | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | process that is focused on improving the academic and | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | functional achievement of the child with a disability to | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | activities, including post-secondary education, vocational | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | education, integrated employment (including supported | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | independent living, or community participation; (ii) is based | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | on the individual child's needs, taking into account the | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | child's strengths, preferences, and interests; and (iii) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | includes instruction, related services, community experiences, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | the development of employment and other post-school adult | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | living objectives, and, if appropriate, acquisition of daily | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | living skills, benefits planning, work incentives education, | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 | and the provision of a functional vocational evaluation. | ||||||
| 2 | Transition services for a child with a disability may be | ||||||
| 3 | special education, if provided as specially designed | ||||||
| 4 | instruction, or a related service if required to assist a child | ||||||
| 5 | with a disability to benefit from special education. | ||||||
| 6 | (a-5) Beginning no later than the first individualized | ||||||
| 7 | education plan (IEP) in effect when the student turns age 14 | ||||||
| 8 | 1/2 (or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team) and | ||||||
| 9 | updated annually thereafter, the IEP must include (i) | ||||||
| 10 | measurable post-secondary goals based upon age-appropriate | ||||||
| 11 | transition assessments and other information available | ||||||
| 12 | regarding the student that are related to training, education, | ||||||
| 13 | employment, and independent living skills and (ii) the | ||||||
| 14 | transition services needed to assist the student in reaching | ||||||
| 15 | those goals, including courses of study.
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| 16 | (b) Transition planning must be conducted as part of the | ||||||
| 17 | IEP process and must be governed by the procedures applicable | ||||||
| 18 | to the development, review, and revision of the IEP, including | ||||||
| 19 | notices to the parents and student, parent and student | ||||||
| 20 | participation, and annual review. To appropriately assess and | ||||||
| 21 | develop IEP transition goals and transition services for a | ||||||
| 22 | child with a disability,
additional participants may be
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| 23 | necessary
and may be invited by the school district, parent, or | ||||||
| 24 | student to participate in the transition planning process.
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| 25 | Additional participants
may include without limitation a
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| 26 | representative from the Department of Human Services or another | ||||||
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| 1 | State agency,
a case coordinator, or persons representing other | ||||||
| 2 | public or community agencies or
services, such as adult service | ||||||
| 3 | providers or public community colleges. The IEP shall identify
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| 4 | each person
responsible for coordinating and
delivering | ||||||
| 5 | transition services. If the IEP team determines that the | ||||||
| 6 | student requires transition services from a public or private | ||||||
| 7 | entity outside of the school district, the IEP team shall | ||||||
| 8 | identify potential outside resources, assign one or more IEP | ||||||
| 9 | team members to contact the appropriate outside entities, make | ||||||
| 10 | the necessary referrals, provide any information and documents | ||||||
| 11 | necessary to complete the referral, follow up with the entity | ||||||
| 12 | to ensure that the student has been successfully linked to the | ||||||
| 13 | entity, and monitor the student's progress to determine if the | ||||||
| 14 | student's IEP transition goals and benchmarks are being met. | ||||||
| 15 | The student's IEP shall indicate one or more specific time | ||||||
| 16 | periods during the school year when the IEP team shall review | ||||||
| 17 | the services provided by the outside entity and the student's | ||||||
| 18 | progress in such activities. The public school's | ||||||
| 19 | responsibility for
delivering educational services does not | ||||||
| 20 | extend beyond the time the student
leaves school or when the | ||||||
| 21 | student's eligibility ends due to age under this Article.
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| 22 | (c) A school district shall submit annually a summary of | ||||||
| 23 | each eligible
student's IEP transition goals and transition | ||||||
| 24 | services resulting from the IEP Team
meeting to the appropriate | ||||||
| 25 | local Transition Planning Committee. If
students with | ||||||
| 26 | disabilities who are ineligible for special education services
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| 1 | request transition services, local public school districts | ||||||
| 2 | shall assist those
students by identifying post-secondary | ||||||
| 3 | school goals, delivering appropriate
education services, and | ||||||
| 4 | coordinating with other agencies and services for
assistance.
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| 5 | (Source: P.A. 98-517, eff. 8-22-13.)
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