Service system collaboration in transition

Inter-agency collaboration is one of the most highly recommended practices in transition from school to adult life for youth with disabilities. However, among best practices in transition, service system collaboration is the least well supported by empirical evidence demonstrating its effectiveness on youth transition outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of inter-agency collaboration on student vocational rehabilitation outcomes in a statewide model demonstration project for youth with disabilities. Using two different measures of perceptions of collaboration among inter-agency teams, results of the study were paradoxical, finding that instrumental or task-oriented perceptions of collaboration had a positive effect on vocational rehabilitation outcomes, while perceptions of team ‘synergy’ had a slight, but negative effect on vocational rehabilitation outcomes. The author (s) discuss the meaning of the construct of collaboration, and its implications for transition and rehabilitation personnel.