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Knowledge Center

Helping Families Prepare for the Future

Introduction: From Access to Achievement

Thirty years ago, children with disabilities had no federal right to a public education. To remedy the fact that one million children with disabilities were totally excluded from public education, the United States Congress passed the first Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975.

That law, now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004), is the basis of a special education system that serves more than 6.7 million children with disabilities. With access to public education now provided, the foremost issue facing students with disabilities is the quality of that education.

Many people are concerned that our nation’s special education system is not providing students with disabilities with the education they need to be successful once they leave school. Despite promising practices and excellent programs that do exist, high drop out and unemployment rates for young adults with disabilities as a whole provide evidence that many students with disabilities are being left behind.

A 2002 report published by the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education found that "too few [students in special education] successfully graduate from high school or transition to full employment and post-secondary opportunities, despite provisions in IDEA providing for transition services. Parents want an education system that is results oriented and focused on the child’s needs—in school and beyond."

IDEA 2004 clearly states that the purpose of the free appropriate public education guaranteed by the law is to prepare students with disabilities for "further education, employment, and independent living." A quality education provides the foundation necessary to achieve these outcomes.

Parent Centers

For many years, the U.S. Department of Education, as authorized by IDEA, has funded Parent Information and Training Centers (PTIs) in every state. Each state has at least one Parent Center, and states with large populations may have more. There are currently over 100 Parent Centers in the United States. Parent Centers share a common mission to improve outcomes for children and youth with disabilities. Parent Center staff members are likely to be parents and siblings of children with disabilities or have disabilities themselves. "Parents Helping Parents" is the philosophy behind the work of Parent Centers.

Parent Centers authorized by IDEA help parents to better understand their children’s disabilities; train parents and professionals on special education issues, the No Child Left Behind Act, and related topics; resolve problems between families and schools or other agencies; assist families to obtain appropriate educational services for their children; and connect the families of children with disabilities to community resources that meet their needs.

Focus on Employment and Post School Outcomes

Surveys of parent centers across the country indicate there is a critical need for additional staff to be able to assist families transitioning from high school into the world of work, higher education and adult service systems. The focus of the parent centers authorized by IDEA is to help families of children with disabilities access early childhood services and a free and appropriate public education at the grade school, middle school, and high school levels.

Once a student leaves the special education system, however, families are often unsure how to help their young adults find and receive the support they need to continue their education, develop career and independent living skills, or find employment. When families do identify postsecondary, vocational rehabilitation or employment programs, they may find it difficult to have input into decisions about the services their family member receives.

The Rehabilitation Act and Parent Training

Congress recognized the need to provide youth with disabilities and their families with information and training focusing on career development, employment, higher education, and adult service systems. In the 1992 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act, Congress first authorized funding for Parent Information and Training Programs entering around these issues. Although budget constraints have limited the number of such programs, Parent Information and Training Programs funded by the US Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration since then have achieved impressive results.

This publication presents the outcomes achieved by seven programs serving 10 states for only one twelve month period—the 2005/2006 grant year. Although the National Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers has been collecting outcome data documenting the positive outcomes resulting from parent center training and assistance for several years, the data presented here is the first outcome data to focus on outcomes of parent training, information and assistance to the families of transition-age youth for the RSA funded Parent Centers.