Texas Project FIRST: Free Transition Planning Support for Families

Project FIRST is one of the most useful free resources available to Texas families navigating the transition from school to adult services — and one of the least known. Texas Project FIRST is a parent-friendly, bilingual website developed by Family to Family Network. It provides information and links to resources about special education, transition, employment, and independent living; it is not an HHSC adult-services intake program or a one-on-one case-navigation service.

What Project FIRST Actually Does

Project FIRST stands for Families, Information, Resources, Support, and Training. It's a statewide parent resource created by parents for parents, with age- and topic-organized information on the Texas special education process and related transition resources.

The core services:

• Information and referral — the site explains special education and transition topics and points families to agencies and resources
• Interest list guidance — the site points families to information about Medicaid waiver programs and community services; actual CSIL registration runs through the local LIDDA
• Transition planning support — resources on transition, employment, independent living, and the relationship between school services and adult services
• System navigation — links and explanations that help families identify which agencies and resources to contact
• Training resources — links to training opportunities and free online learning for families and students with disabilities

Project FIRST is an information resource, not a legal representative or case manager — it doesn't attend ARD meetings, file complaints, or resolve LIDDA intake problems on your behalf. But it fills a critical gap: it explains the special education and adult-service systems in plain language, something the systems themselves often fail to do.

How Project FIRST Differs From SPEDTex and Navigate Life Texas

Texas has several free information resources, and families often confuse them:

SPEDTex is the Texas Education Agency's special education information portal. It focuses on K-12 special education — IEP rights, ARD procedures, evaluation timelines, dispute resolution. SPEDTex is school-focused and stops being useful once the student exits the school system.

Navigate Life Texas is HHSC's website for families of children with disabilities and special healthcare needs. It provides directory-style information — lists of agencies, descriptions of programs, links to applications. The content is comprehensive but static. It tells you what exists; it doesn't help you figure out which pieces apply to your child or what to do first.

Project FIRST is a parent-friendly information layer alongside the HHSC system. It points you to information and people or resources you can contact; it does not replace an agency intake or a parent-training center's one-on-one support. That distinction matters enormously during transition, when the number of agencies, programs, and deadlines can overwhelm even organized families.

When to Contact Project FIRST

The earlier the better, but these are the critical moments:

At the age-14 ARD meeting — when transition planning starts in Texas, use Project FIRST's transition resources to understand adult IDD services and start thinking about waiver interest list registration, even though those services won't be needed for years. Getting on the CSIL early matters when HCS wait times run 17 to 18 years.

At age 17 — when the transfer of rights is approaching. Use its information to compare Supported Decision-Making, powers of attorney, and guardianship in practical terms, and to find legal or parent-support resources if guardianship is being considered.

After age 18 — when SSI applications, Medicaid eligibility, and the adult service system become immediate rather than theoretical. Use the site's adult-service links alongside the SSI application process and LIDDA intake.

When the school district exits the student — whether through graduation, aging out, or withdrawal. This is when the services cliff hits hardest. Use Project FIRST to map what services and resources are available now, what's on a waitlist, and which agencies to contact about gaps in the interim.

How to Access Project FIRST

Read Project FIRST at https://texasprojectfirst.org/.

For one-on-one parent training and information, Partners Resource Network is a separate statewide Parent Training and Information Center network:

• Phone: 1-800-866-4726 (toll-free)
• Online: https://prntexas.org/

The Texas Project FIRST website is publicly available; no eligibility determination or application is needed to read it. Its coverage is broader than IDD: it addresses students with disabilities generally, with age ranges through 18+.

Connecting Project FIRST to Your Transition Plan

Project FIRST complements what the school tells you about transition and what the adult system requires. It does not replace the school's IEP obligations or an adult agency's intake.

The Texas IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes a VR referral tracker and LIDDA waiver tracker designed to work alongside the kind of information Project FIRST provides — when someone tells you to "contact your LIDDA" or "register for the HCS interest list," the guide gives you a structured place to document each step, track deadlines, and record contact information. Pairing the organizational tools in the guide with Project FIRST's parent information gives families the strongest possible position as they manage the most complex phase of their child's education.

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