Colorado IEP Transition Planning Checklist: A Year-by-Year Template

The Timeline No One Hands You at the First Meeting

Colorado's transition process involves at least five separate systems — the school district, DVR, case management agencies, Medicaid/HCPF, and Social Security — and none of them coordinate their deadlines for you. The result is a planning process where families routinely discover critical action items after the window has already closed.

Here's the chronological checklist, organized by the age when each step needs to happen. Some items have hard deadlines; others have "earlier is better" windows that close quietly.

Age 14: Foundation Steps

• Contact your local Case Management Agency (CMA) to initiate a Developmental Disability Determination. This determines eligibility for adult Medicaid waivers and establishes the student's placement date on the DD waiver waiting list. If determined eligible after age 14, the placement date is the date the CMA finalizes the determination. If determined eligible before 14, the date is backdated to their 14th birthday.
• Request placement on the HCBS-DD waiver Safety Net waiting list. The average wait is 8 years, counting only years after the individual turns 18, so getting on the list early is the single highest-leverage action in the entire transition process.
• Obtain a Colorado State ID from a Motor Vehicle office. Bring a certified birth certificate and student ID. This document will be needed for employment, SSI applications, and adult service enrollment.
• Begin aligning the student's Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP) with their emerging interests and strengths through their school counselor.

Age 15 or End of Ninth Grade: The Formal Launch

• The school district must convene a transition IEP meeting that includes measurable postsecondary goals in education/training and employment, and in independent living when appropriate. Colorado's ECEA requires this by age 15 or the end of ninth grade, whichever comes first — one year earlier than federal law.
• Ensure the student is formally invited to and participates in the meeting. Student participation isn't optional — the team must document the student's preferences and interests even if the student doesn't attend.
• Submit a referral for Pre-Employment Transition Services to the local DVR office. Pre-ETS is available to any student with a documented disability (IEP, 504 Plan, or other documentation) starting at age 15 — no formal DVR application required.
• Discuss the graduation pathway decision. A regular diploma terminates FAPE; a certificate of completion preserves eligibility for 18-to-21 services. Document the team's reasoning.
• Define a multi-year course of study aligned with the student's postsecondary goals and chosen graduation pathway.

Age 16-17: Building and Deepening

• Expand Pre-ETS activities to include work-based learning experiences: job shadowing, informational interviews, paid or unpaid internships.
• Evaluate whether the student is a candidate for SWAP (School to Work Alliance Program) — the cooperative employment program between DVR and the school district for students with mild to moderate employment barriers.
• Begin the DVR application process if the student will need individualized vocational rehabilitation services (not just Pre-ETS) after school exit.
• Ensure adult agency representatives are invited to IEP meetings. The school must obtain written consent to invite agencies and document the invitation.
• At age 17 years, 9 months: initiate adult Medicaid waiver applications (SLS or DD) through the CMA to prevent service gaps at age 18.
• Continue healthcare transition planning. Identify adult healthcare providers, transfer medical records, and discuss Health First Colorado enrollment.
• Start the supported decision-making conversation. Explore alternatives to guardianship and determine whether the student will make their own legal and medical decisions at 18 or whether additional support structures are needed.

Age 18: The Legal Threshold

• Apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). At 18, the student is evaluated under adult financial rules — parental income and assets are disregarded. Countable resources must not exceed $2,000.
• Open a Colorado ABLE account to save for disability-related expenses without jeopardizing SSI or Medicaid eligibility. Up to $100,000 in an ABLE account is excluded from the SSI resource calculation.
• Finalize the supported decision-making agreement or guardianship if appropriate. In Colorado, general legal and medical decision-making authority transfers to the student at 18 — but special education rights remain with the parent until age 21 under the ECEA.
• Activate the DD waiver Safety Net enrollment if the student was placed on the list at age 14. Minors on the Safety Net list are not eligible for adult waiver services until their 18th birthday.
• Evaluate the Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefit if a parent receives Social Security retirement or disability benefits, or has passed away. The Social Security Fairness Act repealed the WEP and GPO provisions, so qualifying DAC beneficiaries with Colorado public-employee family members are no longer subject to those federal offsets.

Ages 18-21: The Extended Window

• Continue school-district-funded 18-to-21 transition services if the student hasn't received a regular diploma. Access concurrent enrollment, career and technical education, community-based instruction, and supported employment programs.
• Coordinate DVR services with school programming. The IEP team and VR counselor should be working from the same employment goals.
• Request the Summary of Performance well before the student's expected exit date. Ensure it uses objective, assessment-based language.
• Monitor waiver waitlist status with the CMA. If an enrollment offer arrives, the student has 30 calendar days to accept or decline (with a possible 30-day extension).
• Apply for supported employment through the SLS waiver if competitive integrated employment with ongoing coaching is the goal.

Getting the Full Template

This checklist covers the major milestones, but the full planning calendar — with CMA contact scripts, agency referral forms, and decision worksheets at each stage — is in the Colorado IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide. It maps every action item to the specific Colorado agency responsible, so nothing falls through the gaps between systems.

See more Colorado guides →