State and local agencies in several states came together in this Community in 2004 to improve interagency transition initiatives and promote the role of youth in this effort. Today, federal agencies, States and many national organizations are joined in the community:

• States include: AL, AZ, CA, NH, PA, VA, ND, DC, DE, WI, MI;
• 16 national organizations;
• 7 technical assistance (TA) Centers; and
• Federal Partners: Departments of Education (DOE), Transportation(DOT), Labor (DOL), and Justice(DOJ)

• The Community of Practice Meeting is held annually in conjunction with the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center's (NSTTAC) Secondary Transition State Planning Institute.

• 7th National Community of Practice on Transition Meeting, May 16-18, 2010:
  • Ten states (AZ, CA, DC, DE, ND, NH, NY, PA, VA, and WI), 12 national organizations and 12 TA Centers participated in the 7th National Community of Practice on Transition meeting held in Charlotte, NC from May 16-18, 2010. This year's Community meeting focused on big agendas and simple messages around initiatives such as P-16/P-20: Cradle to College and Career, Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Learners.
    
  • The workgroups made Transition explicit within the context of the national agendas as they developed their messages. They also discussed ways to serve students with intellectual disabilities on college campuses and defined their tasks and timelines for accomplishing work around 10 priority issues identified by the community.
    
  • Many community members are participating in a "book discussion" based on the document Transition to Adulthood which was disseminated by the Future of Children group that researches and analyzes youth investments.
    

• Statewide Conference Planning
  Many states in the national community of practice on transition plan interagency statewide conferences and meetings.  Space on the IDEA Partnership's interactive collaborative website (see link below) is dedicated to sharing strategies, resources and tools for improving post school outcomes of youth with disabilities across the county. States participating in this activity are using the youth leadership model to meaningfully engage youth in all aspects of their collaborative planning. States are sharing the following types of documents and strategies:
  • Bringing a Diverse Group of Stakeholders to the Table as a Workgroup
  • Conference Agendas
  • Conference Brochures
  • Conference Evaluation Tools
  • Conference Highlights (special features of conferences)
  • Conference Materials
  • Developing the Program
  • Scholarship Information
  • Creating a Year-Round Strategy
  • Volunteer Coordination Tools