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Youth in Transition Toolkit:

Youth in Transition Toolkit

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Key elements of the Framework

Shared practices

A circular graphic depicting the Minnesota Youth In Transition Framework. The words 'Youth in transition' are in the center, surrounded by four overlapping circles. The four circles contain the words: Best Life, Outcomes: Use skills to envision and advocate for their best life. Independent Living, Outcomes: Successfully live as independently as possible. Employment, Outcomes: Find competitive, integrated work they enjoy. Postsecondary Education and Training, Outcomes: Obtain industry-recognized credentials. Surrounding the four circles are the words: learning expectations, guiding principles, and shared practices. Shared practices is highlighted.Shared practices are collective ways of working. When we all use the same practices, processes and tools, we can create consistent person-centered experiences for youth and families while optimizing the role of everyone on the transition planning team.

Shared practices can result in better outcomes for youth, improve engagement by families and make the jobs of staff easier in the long run.

The Framework’s shared practices are:

1. Person-centered practices
2. Collaborative partnerships
3. The youth planning process

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Person-centered practices

Focusing on individualized planning and supports to build a meaningful life

Person-centered practices are based on the core principle that the person is the expert in their own life and, as such, should drive the planning process. Check out the Framework’s guiding principles for more information about how the youth is at the center of transition planning.

Person-centered practices:

  • Ensure that people get to live the life they want.
  • Can help ensure that all youth and their families have the support they need to develop a vision for their best life and make informed choices about where they live, learn, work, and participate in the community. 
  • Build and strengthen community connections by prioritizing, recruiting and leveraging natural supports first. These supports can provide support throughout a youth's adult life.

When applying person-centered practices, we must listen for what's important to and for someone to create the life they want. Person-centered practices are adapted to each unique person, so what is explored and planned will vary from person to person.

Charting the LifeCourse is a framework to help people and families develop a vision for a good life by focusing on their current life stage and then identifying how to find or develop the needed supports. Across the state, Minnesota's interagency partners are working together to adopt the Charting the LifeCourse framework to build a common language and approach as people move through and between our systems.

Learn more about Charting the LifeCourse:

Charting the LifeCourse logo

The Engage Families and Support Youth sections of this toolkit contain a variety of person-centered strategies and tools you can use in your work with youth in transition and their families.

To learn more about person-centered practices and planning:

Collaborative partnerships

Working together to support a smoother transition to adulthood

Collaborative partnerships support efficient and effective work by professionals, a more streamlined process for families, and better outcomes for youth. This includes collaboration and coordination across the various professionals, providers, family members, and natural supports that a youth may encounter as they transition to adulthood, specifically:

With other professionals

  • Connecting and collaborating with other members of your local transition planning team. Check out this resource to help you build your local transition planning team.
  • Connecting and working with the other members of a youth’s support team
  • Working to ensure a youth’s services and supports are coordinated across various systems and agencies

With families

  • Building relationships and engaging with a youth’s family and other key people in their life
  • Encouraging families to use My Vault (see more information below)

With youth

  • Helping youth identify their team (both formal and informal resources)
  • Helping youth lead their planning meetings
  • Encouraging youth to use My Vault (see more information below)

My Vault is a secure, online tool for people with disabilities, families and support professionals to use to plan for the future, collaborate, and store and share information with their support team. It is an application for doing person-centered planning—it has planning paths where people can complete short activities to help think about their goals and options for their best life, work, benefits, and housing.

My Vault gives professionals a way to strengthen coordination, ensure consistency in the use of person-centered tools and practices, build efficiencies for themselves and the families they support, and manage activities across their caseload.

Learn more about My Vault:

A screenshot of the My Vault web page.

The youth planning process

Creating a consistent and effective process for transition planning

When working with youth and families, all interagency support teams are encouraged to use the youth planning process to ensure consistent, high-quality transition planning and Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS).

The youth planning process includes six steps:

1. Build the team
2. Identify strengths and needs
3. Create plans
4. Implement plans
5. Track progress
6. Reflect

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