The purpose of the Early Childhood Transition Critical Incidents Study is to obtain information about an incident that was critical to the success or non-success of a child's transition from one early childhood program to another. Data from these investigations will be used to identify effective and ineffective early childhood transition practices

These can be stories about your own transition experiences with your child, reports of your personal involvement in delivering early childhood transition services or observations of others who were providing early childhood transition services. An online early childhood transition story can be completed in just a few minutes. This information will be helpful to others involved in providing successful early childhood transition services. Please visit this site often to report your experiences with transition as they happen.

For more information, download this pdf, Transition Stories.

Information for leaders in The Arc
Free Training Opportunity!!

On-line Learning - Help Field Test a New
Distance Learning Course on Developmental Disabilities Law

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School has developed an on-line course entitled "Developmental Disabilities Law." This course is one of several courses being developed as part of a Maternal and Child Health Bureau grant, "Developmental Disabilities On
Line."

The five-week course will introduce the participant to five federal laws that currently affect the lives of persons with disabilities and their families.

The five laws include: The Americans with Disabilities Act, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, The Rehabilitation Act (Section 504), The Social Security Act, and The Fair Housing Amendments. Participants will explore how each law has affected current and historical views of persons with
disabilities, including examples of how elements of various laws can influence educational and social outcomes. Participants will find and contact key resources that may be utilized when seeking information about enforcement of each law.

Case studies will be utilized for participants to discern what steps can be taken to assist persons with disabilities in particular situations. Finally, participants will select one of the laws and critically evaluate its impact on promoting the integration and independence of people with disabilities. Course
objectives:

1. Summarize each law by:
Listing its effective date and its official and popular name
Listing the activities covered by the law
Describing the specific groups of people covered by the law
Summarizing the goal(s) of the law
Describing how the law is enforced

2. Analyze how each law fits into the current and historical view of people with disabilities.

3. Identify and list resources that can be utilized in seeking enforcement of each law.

4. Analyze case studies involving a person with a disability, and advise the person about what he or she can do to help with his or her particular situation. The advice should include a description of what specific steps the person with the disability should take in seeking to utilize a law, e.g. calling
an agency, filing a complaint, etc.

5. Select one of the laws and critically evaluate the impact it has had on promoting the integration and independence of people with disabilities.

Developmental Disabilities Law will be field tested in January 2004 before it is finalized. Field test participants will take the course just as regular students would, but will be asked to comment briefly from time to time on course content and format. At the end of the course students will receive
an attractive certificate of completion. No college or CEU credit will be offered for this field test.

If you are interested in participating in the field test please contact Anncy Marangoly at anncy.marangoly@umassmed.edu for more information.

Now Available! Kentucky Medicaid Overview

This new 12-page publication provides an overview of how Medicaid works in Kentucky, including eligibility and benefits, Medicaid financing and expenditures and more. Free copies of Kentucky Medicaid Overview are available by calling the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky at 1-877-326-2583 or send email with address information and number of copies requested to info@healthyky.org - Kentucky Medicaid Overview is a project of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.

For more information:

Mary Jo Dike
Program Administrator
Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, Inc.
9300 Shelbyville Road, Suite 1305
Louisville, KY 40222
(502) 326-2583
Fax (502) 326-5748
mdike@healthyky.org
www.healthyky.org

Become a member of the Foundation's mailing list. As a member you will receive occassional emails announcing Foundation activities and grant opportunities. To be removed from the email/mailing list, please send an email to info@healthyky.org

Anne Ford Scholarship

The National Center for Learning Disabilities would like to alert you to a
wonderful opportunity for high school seniors with learning
disabilities--The Anne Ford Scholarship. Now in its third year, the
scholarship awards $10,000 to a high school senior of high merit who plans
to pursue a four-year college education.

We believe that providing information about this scholarship will help you
help your constituents. We are also hoping that your organization might
help us publicize the call for this year's scholarship applications.
Please consider both excerpting the attached press release and publicizing
the following link to the information and application page on our Web site,
at www.ld.org/awards/afscholarinfo.cfm. Last year we received over 800
applications from all fifty U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Guam; we are hoping
that, with your help, this year's group of applicants will be even
larger. The deadline for applications has been extended and is now January
31, 2004.

For further information, call Meaghan Carey (212) 545-7510 x.233 or email mcarey@ncld.org.

NCLD Professional Services
381 Park Ave South Suite 1401
New York, NY 10016
www.ncld.org