• Print

Parent & Family Engagement Resources

Parents and mentors can use these resources to help teens to make career and postsecondary education plans.

These web resources will help parents and mentors to guide teens as they transition into adulthood. This list, compiled by the Parent & Community Engagement Subcommittee of the Minnesota Career & College Readiness Collaborative , includes resources for people with disabilities.

Resources are listed alphabetically within in six categories:

• Career Exploration and Development
• College Preparation
• College Transition for Students with Disabilities
• Building Work Skills and Soft Skills
• Transition Resources for Families
• Accommodations for People with Disabilities

Career Exploration and Development

• Beginning the Job Search (MDE's Parents Know)
• Career Exploration in Action (NCWD)
• Career Exploration Resources (Minnesota Programs of Study)
• Career Planning (MDE's Parents Know)
• Career Tree Activity (MN Programs of Study)
• Choices Not Chances Exercise (MN Programs of Study)
• Explore Careers with Your Teen (CAREERwise Education)
• Explore Your Career Options (GPS LifePlan)
• Interest Assessment (Office of Higher Education/MnCareers)
• Learn More About Yourself (GPS LifePlan)
• Make a Career Plan (MyMnCareers)
• Minnesota Youth Program (DEED)
• MyNextMove (O*NET)
• Pathways to Success: Helping Your Minnesota Teen with College and Career Decisions in Somali, Spanish and Hmong (CTE/CAREERwise Education)
• Start Now to Chart Your Youth's Career Path after Graduation (PACER Center)
• Using Career Interest Inventories to Inform Career Planning (NCWD)
• What is a Career? (MyMnCareers)

College Preparation

• Calculate Costs (CAREERwise Education)
• Choosing a College (Office of Higher Education)
• College and Major Choice (MDE's Parents Know)
• College Prep Checklists (Federal Student Aid)
• Creating Your Education Plan (GPS LifePlan)
• Education Options After High School (MDE's Parents Know)
• FAFSA Information (Federal Student Aid)
• Financial Aid 101 (CAREERwise Education)
• Financing Your Education (GPS LifePlan)
• Know Your Education Options (MyMnCareers)
• Minnesota Programs of Study (CTE)
• Ready Set Go (MDE)

College Transition for Students with Disabilities

• A Guide for Accessing College Readiness for Parents of College-Bound Students Who Learn Differently (Landmark College)
• Chart Your Own Future: How Your Individualized Education Program (IEP) Can Help (PACER Center)
• College or Training Programs: How to Decide (PACER Center)
• College Survival Skills: Tips for students with disabilities to increase college success (University of Washington)
• Education Resources for People with Disabilities (CAREERwise Education)
• Going to College: A Resource for Teens with Disabilities (Virginia Commonwealth University)
• Graduation Requirements and Diploma Options for Students with Disabilities: What Families and Advocates Need to Know (PACER Center)
• Minnesota Secondary Transition Toolkit for Families (PACER Center)
• Off to College: Tips for Students with Visual Impairments (PACER Center)
• Parent Tips for Transition Planning (PACER Center)
• Preparation Is Key to Gaining Accommodations on ACT College Entrance Test (PACER Center)
• Section 504 and Postsecondary Education (PACER Center)
• Think College: College Options for People with Intellectual Disabilities (University of Massachusetts Boston)
• Transition: Charting a Course for the Future (PACER Center)

Building Work Skills and Soft Skills

• Develop Your Work Skills (MyMnCareers)
• Helping Youth Build Work Skills for Job Success: Tips for Parents and Families (NCWD)
• Helping Youth Develop Soft Skills for Job Success: Tips for Parents and Families (NCWD)
• JobSTART 101
• Preparing for Employment: On the Home Front (PACER Center)
• Soft Skills to Pay the Bills -- Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success (DOL-ODEP)
• Success at Work (MyMnCareers)
• Work-Based Learning (CAREERwise Education)
• Soft Work-Based Learning for Students with Disabilities (PACER Center)

Transition Resources for Families

• Effective College Planning: Resources (WNY Collegiate Consortium And Disability Advocates)
• Effective College Planning: Transition (WNY Collegiate Consortium And Disability Advocates)
• How You Can Help Your Child Learn to be A Good Self-Advocate (PACER Center)
• Off to College: Tip for Parents of Students with Visual Impairments (PACER Center)
• Plan for Education with You Teen (CAREERwise Education)
• Soft Effective College Planning: Legal Issues (WNY Collegiate Consortium And Disability Advocates)
• Tapping Into the Power of Families: How Families of Youth with Disabilities Can Assist in Job Search and Retention (NCWD)
• Ten Tips That May Help Your Child's Transition to Adulthood (PACER Center)

Accommodations for People with Disabilities

• Americans with Disabilities Act (U.S. Dept. of Justice)
• Disclosure Decisions: To Get the Job Fact Sheet (Virginia Commonwealth University)
• Help Your Young Adult Learn About Accessing Accommodations After High School (PACER Center)
• How to Disclose (STEP AHEAD)
• Job Accommodation Network (DOL-ODEP)
• Minnesota Associations of Centers for Independent Living
• Minnesota STAR Program: Minnesota's Assistive Technology Act Program
• Simon Technology Center (PACER Center)
• Wright's Law
• Youth and Disability Disclosure: The Role of Families and Advocates (NCWD)

Additional career and postsecondary planning resources can be found in CAREERwise Education's Parent Center .