As students with disabilities prepare for life after high school, developing independent living goals as part of their transition plan is crucial to ensuring a smooth and successful transition to adulthood. Independent living encompasses a wide range of skills that enable individuals to make choices, manage daily tasks, and engage in their communities with confidence.

Why Independent Living Goals Matter:

1. Promotes Self-Sufficiency – Setting goals for independent living helps students develop the skills they need to take care of themselves and make informed decisions about their lives.
2. Enhances Quality of Life – When students gain independence in areas such as housing, transportation, and financial management, they have more opportunities for personal growth and community participation.
3. Increases Access to Post-School Success – Many aspects of independent living, such as budgeting, meal preparation, and social skills, directly impact a student’s ability to succeed in employment or postsecondary education.
4. Reduces Reliance on Family and Support Systems – While support is always valuable, fostering independence ensures that students are prepared to navigate adulthood with greater autonomy.

Key Areas Skills to Consider:

When developing measurable annual goals to support an independent living goal in a transition plan, consider the following areas:

1. Daily Living Skills – Cooking, cleaning, laundry, personal hygiene, and home maintenance.
2. Financial Literacy – Budgeting, banking, paying bills, understanding credit, and managing a PA ABLE account if applicable.
3. Housing & Community Living – Exploring housing options, learning about renter’s rights, securing accommodations, and developing emergency preparedness skills.
4. Transportation – Learning to navigate public transportation, obtaining a driver’s license or identifying accessible ride services.
5. Health & Wellness – Managing medical appointments, medications, insurance, and self-advocating for healthcare needs.
6. Social & Self-Advocacy Skills – Building relationships, engaging in community activities, and learning to communicate needs and preferences effectively.
7. Employment & Time Management – Balancing responsibilities, organizing schedules, and preparing for workplace expectations.

Embedding Independent Living Goals into the Transition Plan

When writing measurable annual IEP goals to support transition, teams should:
✔ Assess the student’s current independent living skills through assessments.
✔ Set measurable goals based on the student’s strengths, interests, and needs.
✔ Include real-world experiences, such as community-based instruction or self-advocacy training.
✔ Collaborate with families and adult agencies to connect students with post-school supports.

By intentionally addressing independent living skills in the transition planning process, students with disabilities are better equipped to lead fulfilling, self-determined lives. Transition teams should work together to ensure that students gain the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to achieve their independent living goals.

Charting the LifeCourse - Life Vision Tool

Forming a vision and beginning to plan for the future in each of the life domains helps plot a trajectory for a full, inclusive, quality life in the community. This tool is to help individuals of all ages start to think about a more specific vision for life in the future and narrow down what life domain(s) to focus on at this point in time.

Focus on Transition to Adulthood

Transition means that you are moving from childhood to young adulthood and from school to adult life.

There are many things to think about and do to prepare for this change. Transition is a point in a time filled with change, growth, excitement, and sometimes fear and confusion. It is helpful to explore life experiences to have and questions to ask during this transformative life stage.

Charting the LifeCourse created this quick guide to help with planning.

Planning to live independently can be overwhelming. There is a lot to think about, where you are going to live, figuring out what supports you need to live your best life, putting everything in place for you to succeed. The good news is that there are lots of things out there to help you think through all that, one step at a time.

Take for example, activities of daily living (ADLs). These are tasks that we do all the time and are part of our routine. Examples include: brushing our teeth, feeding ourselves, getting dressed, showering, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, taking care of finances, and a whole lot more. It is just as important to think through support for the little things as well as the big things. Future Planning: A Roadmap of our Futures, Our Wishes is a workbook that has lots of activities to think through how you do these things, and how you can be supported to do these things. One such activity is the Checklist of Daily Activities (page 30). This checklist goes one activity at a time and lets you think about how you do it and if you need support to do that task.

In preparing to live independently, it is important to look both at the big picture like where folks live and the smaller picture like how do we keep ourselves clean and healthy. When having these independent living conversations, keep the whole picture in the conversation.

Applications are now open for youth experiences at the Bridging Knowledge to Know-How Conference, including Camp InsPirAtion, CS Camp: Code Arcade, and the Youth Transition Summit. These programs offer engaging opportunities for individuals with disabilities and their siblings during the conference from July 28 to 31, 2025. Check out our SMORE to learn more about the opportunities.

Centers for Independent Living provide advocacy, life skills training, and support for individuals with disabilities transitioning to independence.

To find a CIL in your area, use the directory.

Charting the LifeCourse provides vision planning tools, life trajectory worksheets, and person-centered strategies for planning for the future.

ABLE National Resource Center – Offers guidance on financial planning and setting up ABLE accounts for individuals with disabilities.

Casey Life Skills Assessment – A free, research-based tool to assess independent living skills and identify areas for growth.

National Disability Institute: Financial Resilience Center – Supports financial wellness for individuals with disabilities, including budgeting and money management.

Looking for a place where you can Connect, Collect, & Contribute

to all things secondary transition?

Connect with people from across our state to collect

resources, share events and contribute stories about positive post-school outcomes!

Click here to create an account and login to join our PA Secondary Transition- Public Square.

The Pennsylvania Youth Leadership Network (PYLN) is a youth-led organization that empowers students with disabilities to develop self-advocacy and independent living skills. They focus on leadership development, transition planning, and fostering inclusive communities.

How They Support Independent Living

• Provide peer-to-peer mentoring for youth with disabilities.
• Offer trainings and resources on self-advocacy, employment, and independent living skills.
• Work with schools and agencies to ensure youth have a voice in their transition planning.
• Help families and educators understand how to support youth in leading their own lives.

Website: https://www.pyln.org

Are you or someone you know interested in pursuing a program to help better meet the needs of transition-age students? The Transition Leadership Program at UMass Boston can do just that! This program equips professionals with the expertise needed to guide students with disabilities toward successful future.

Program highlights

• Graduate certificate in Transition Leadership
• Fully online
• Fully accredited and approved course of study for national certification and the MA DESE transition specialist endorsement
• Hands-on practicum experience

Who should apply?

This program is ideally for teachers, rehabilitation counselors, school social workers, guidance counselors and other professionals seeking to specialize in transition services for students with disabilities.

Course Topics Include

1. Transition Topics
2. Youth Development and Self Determination
3. Career Development and Competitive Employment
4. Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities
5. Transition Leadership
6. Practicum

They are currently accepting applications for Fall semester, with registration opening on April 1, and encourage you to explore the program.

• Visit their website
• Attend an information session
• Frequently asked questions

The Pa. Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Family Health is excited to announce a funding opportunity for Pennsylvania-based, community-based organizations, public health organizations, local governments, or health care organizations that have the capacity to provide services to people with or at-risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Pennsylvania. From March 6, 2025 through 1:30 p.m. on April 17, 2025, the DOH is soliciting applications that increase access to diagnostic services for ASD and develop support systems for caregivers of children diagnosed with ASD. The overall goal of this funding is to provide access to autism diagnostic services along with community-based resources and education.

The Autism Diagnostic Clinic (ADC) program utilizes innovative telehealth technology to increase access to diagnostic services for ASD. The clinic partners with two health systems to expedite diagnoses for children aged 18 months to 3 years. Children who are initially screened as at-risk for ASD are referred from Early Intervention to the ADC, who then schedules diagnostic services for the children within six months of the referral.

More information on this Request for Applications can be found at Pa. Marketplace: https://tinyurl.com/ym89b5ta

The DOH also requests that you share this opportunity with other individuals and organizations. Please forward this announcement and include it in any newsletters or regular communications sent to your partners, stakeholders, and community. If you have questions or need additional information, contact RA-DHCSDO@pa.gov or 717-772-2763.

The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) is preparing to return to an Order of Selection (OOS). This process, established under the Rehabilitation Act, is used by Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs to manage caseloads during limited funding or staffing. By implementing OOS, OVR can better allocate resources, adjust programs, and introduce cost-saving measures in anticipation of continued flat-funding.

Join us for an informative session that will break down what OOS means, why it’s necessary, and how it will affect secondary students transitioning from school to work.

Register Here

Target Audience

Secondary Transition Staff; Special Education Administrators

Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate individuals who have special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and who need assistance at this event. Contact: Paula Quinn at pquinn@pattanpgh.net

PA ABLE and Social Security Disability Programs

Experts will discuss how PA ABLE Savings Program and Social Security Disability Programs work together. You’ll hear from Diana Fishlock, outreach specialist for the PA ABLE Savings Program, and Frank Magni, Social Security Administration public affairs specialist.

The PA ABLE Savings Program gives individuals with qualified disabilities a way to save for disability-related expenses while maintaining important benefits and supporting health, independence, and quality of life. The Social Security Administration’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program pays benefits to adults and children who meet requirements for a qualifying disability and have limited income and resources.

The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program pays benefits to individuals and certain family members if the individual is “insured.” While these two programs are different, the medical requirements are the same. Traditionally people receiving such benefits could only save a small amount, but ABLE accounts change the landscape, allowing people receiving these benefits to save for a house, a car, and other everyday expenses.

If you require accommodations to participate in this webinar, please contact PA ABLE at info@paable.gov.

Wednesday, April 16, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Register

Join us for the Bridging Knowledge to Know-How Conference, where educators, community partners, families, and youth come together to learn evidence based practices and tools that bridge the gap between knowledge and practice!

📅 Dates: July 28-31, 2025

📍 Location: State College, PA

🌟 Dive into sessions focused on:
🔹 Autism
🔹 Sensory Disabilities
🔹 Secondary Transition
🔹 Complex Instructional Needs

🔗 For more information check out our pattanpod: Watch/YouTube- https://bit.ly/4gcInXY Listen/Podcast- https://bit.ly/42pApar

Are you looking for transition events across PA?

Don't forget to check the events calendar to stay up to date on all of the great events happening in PA and nationally related to secondary transition!

The Pennsylvania Community on Transition is a group of various stakeholders from across Pennsylvania who work collaboratively to ensure appropriate transition outcomes for Pennsylvania youth and young adults.

The Pennsylvania Community on Transition is a state leadership team consisting of representative from: the State Departments of Education, Health, Labor and Industry, and Human Services; Various Serving Agencies, Young Adults, Parent Organizations, Advocates, Higher Education, and Employers.

The shared vision and common goals of the Pennsylvania Community on Transition is achieved when all PA youth and young adults with disabilities:

• Successfully transition to the role of productive and participating adult citizens
• Are empowered to recognize their talents, strengths, and voice
• Have equal access to resources that will promote their full participation in the communities of their choice.

Email: pasecondarytransition@gmail.com
Website: https://www.pasecondarytransition.com/
Phone: 4128266878
Twitter: @hmangiskuntz