Roles & Responsibilities

Students

Prepare for your transition to adult life while you are still in school.
Explore academic classes and opportunities, extracurricular activities, community events, and work experiences that are of interest to you. Reach out to your support network (family members, friends, teachers, professionals) for guidance during this career exploration process.
As you begin to think about your postsecondary education, career goals and the support you will need to achieve them, apply to Rehabilitation Services Administration.
Attend and actively participate in meetings with your school, parents/guardians, and RSA to further refine your career goals.
Work with RSA to develop your Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) and choose the services you need to achieve your employment goal.
Strive to reach your goal. Apply for jobs and let your support network and RSA know how everything is going. Ask them for help if you need it.

Support and empower your student throughout the transition from school to adult life and encourage your student to actively participate in the process.
Help your student explore strengths, interests, abilities, and challenges and understand the impacts of disability. At least two years before exit from high school, encourage your student to think about options beyond high school and what supports the student may need to achieve an employment goal. Help your student apply to Rehabilitation Services Administration for the services.
Collaborate with your student, the school, and RSA and attend and participate in meetings to discuss transition to adult life. Ensure that your student attends and participates in scheduled meetings with RSA. Help prepare your student for these meetings to be ready to make informed choices about the future.
Connect your student to opportunities including internships, mock interviews, and resumÃ© building to help your student prepare for the world of work.

Help your students and their families understand the transition process.
Encourage and empower your students to be self-advocates and active and informed participants in the transition process. Educate students about the "age of majority" (age 18) so that they are aware of their rights and responsibilities as they transfer.
Stress the importance and value of work to your students. Expose your students to the world of work via in class lessons, individual dialogues, and career fairs, to name a few. Connect students to career exploration activities at school and in the community.
Guide your students in exploring their strengths, skills, interests, and challenges and how their disabilities impact their academic and professional work. Support students in developing their SMART career goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) and identifying what they need to do to reach these goals.
At least two years before your students exit high school, discuss their short-term and long-term needs for supports. Assist them in applying for RSA services. Ensure necessary documents are easily available to RSA to determine eligibility of the student.
Talk to students about their Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) and employment goals. Identify any supports you can provide while they are still in school to help them begin to reach these goals.

Provide information about RSA services and processes to the DC community. Conduct outreach at every DC public high school, charter school, and non-public school for which the VR specialist is assigned that serves DC high school students.
Participate in transition and career fairs hosted by schools and the community to share information about RSA and connect to students and families.
Provide support to school staff in completing and submitting student referrals to RSA.
Conduct intake interviews and make eligibility determinations of the students.
Guide students in exploring their strengths, interests, abilities, challenges, disabilities, and how they impact their employment goals.
Prepare students to make informed decisions about their transition and help them develop SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) and an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) with services they need to reach their employment goals.
Communicate with school staff on student progress towards eligibility, IPE plan development, and where necessary, IPE implementation.
Connect students to services.
Ensure that work experiences are aligned with students' post-school employment goals.
Maintain contact with students throughout the entire Vocational Rehabilitation process. Monitor their progress towards achieving their employment goals and before hired, ensure that the job is aligned with their goals.