Transitioning Youth

Without the Governor’s Transitioning Youth Initiative, students leaving the school system would be placed on a lengthy waiting list for adult services. The Initiative earmarks funds in the DDA budget for eligible students leaving school, regardless of the severity of their situation and their relative need for immediate services.

For an individual to be eligible for the Governor’s Transitioning Youth Initiative, he or she must be found fully eligible as developmentally disabled.

The developmental disability eligibility criteria state that the person has a severe chronic disability that:

• Is attributable to a physical or mental impairment, other than the sole diagnosis of mental illness, or to a combination of mental and physical impairments;
• Is manifested before the individual attains the age of 22;
• Is likely to continue indefinitely;
• Results in an inability to live independently without external support or continuing and regular assistance; and
• Reflects the need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary or generic care, treatment, or other services that are individually planned and coordinated for the individual.

To join DDA services using the Transitioning Youth category, a student is eligible from his/her 21st birthday until his/her 22nd birthday. If the date of graduation is after the student’s 21st birthday, they are eligible for one year after the date of graduation.​

To learn more about Transitioning Youth and the process for waiver enrollment, please visit this DDA website Transitioning Youth.