TRANSITION JOB READINESS FOR ADOLESCENTS WITH JUVENILE ARTHRITIS AND OTHER CHRONIC ILLNESS

A successful transition from school to the world of work is crucial for all adolescents but can be particularly difficult for adolescents with chronic illnesses and disabilities (CI/D). The need for prevocational services for this population is especially urgent as more children with CI/D are surviving, and in the USA, to obtain their needed health care coverage, employment is essential. Yet 50-75% of young disabled adults are jobless in the USA and only 21% of the more than 300,000 handicapped students leaving special education become employed. We outline the current barriers to prevocational readiness for the adolescents with CI/D and describe how 2 programs are working with solutions.