CIRCLES: A Three-Team Interagency Collaboration Approach to Support Successful Transitions for Students with Disabilities

Abstract

Interagency collaboration is an effective strategy for supporting students and families with resources and support to prepare students for life after high school. The Communicating Interagency Relationships and Collaborative Linkages for Exceptional Students (CIRCLES) is the only interagency collaboration model identified as a research-based practice, which means the CIRCLES model has the most and highest quality of evidence for its use among interagency collaboration models. Within this chapter, we overview the CIRCLES model and its history. School districts from multiple states have implemented CIRCLES, and, within this chapter, we overview stakeholder experiences with CIRCLES. When implementing any practice, evaluation and implementation fidelity are critical, so we provide suggestions for both. Finally, we discuss barriers and strategies to effective interagency collaboration, in addition to implications for policy and practice.

Citation

Kwiatek, S.M., Mazzotti, V.L., Stewart-Ginsburg, J.H. and Vicchio, J.N. (2022), "CIRCLES: A Three-Team Interagency Collaboration Approach to Support Successful Transitions for Students with Disabilities", Scorgie, K. and Forlin, C. (Ed.) Transition Programs for Children and Youth with Diverse Needs (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 18), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 209-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620220000018015