bye tina can i give you a hug? would that be ok? goodbye. alright, eric i ll see you, man. reporter: eric gets on the school bus for the very last time, headed toward an uncertain future. while eric s transition was deliberately unceremonious, nick s is much more of a celebration. we re going to graduation? yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. reporter: although nick hasn t been in a regular classroom for most of his life, he s participating in the school district s graduation ceremony at his parents request. his teacher holly stovall along with his sister tasha support him as he receives his diploma. just a few years ago, a crowd like this would have been overwhelming and stressful for nick. nickolas joseph kubicsko ladies and gentlemen, let s hear
federal law says they must have something called a transition plan created by their school district. it s supposed to be a set of measurable goals designed to prepare young people for adult life. but nick s mom lenore hasn t received anything. so she and her husband mike call the school superintendent to complain. i have no transition plan. and the clock is ticking. which is why i said to you, i m fearful that we re just delaying and delaying here and nickolas s needs are not being met. dateline found nick s case is not unique. according to our analysis of the most recent u.s. department of education data, only a handful of states are consistently making transition plans for all special education students. up to now, the department of education has been the sole agency responsible for eric and nick. but when they graduate, their families will have to navigate a jumbled patchwork of state and federal programs. good job, nick.
they lost when they turned 21. nick has had an especially bumpy road. after depending solely on his mom for months, he finally got help in the form of a state funded program that sends aides to his home. then, his family had to break up in order to keep his services. and last october, another change. he abruptly loses some of his services again. our experience when he graduated was falling off a cliff. i said to my husband this was the equivalent of getting pushed off a cliff. reporter: here s why, new york state agencies put new conditions on how government funding can be used to pay for programs like nick s. he loses valuable members of his team overnight and quickly spins out of control. he s falling apart. he s a mess. and i need help and i need help like two months ago. reporter: after an episode of extreme anxiety leaves nick hospitalized, lenore calls an agency that provides services
that s about three dollars? right. reporter: nick donates the money he makes to the charity make a wish he had make-a-wish a number of years ago. and that was life-changing for him. oh thank you so much! not everybody works a paying job, but that doesn t mean they don t contribute to their community. for all your hard work. and right now we re teaching him how to do that with something a simple as collecting bottles and passing the money on to charity. reporter: for eric, the period of isolation and stagnation he went through after leaving the rebecca school is coming to an end. mommy, and i ll be right back. reporter: he s recently learned a new skill, he s taking the subway by himself a big step on the path to becoming more independent. what are you going to do this weekend? reporter: and instead of weekly dinner dates with his
at this point under the law, no. reporter: what s more, lewis says states split their medicaid dollars between the poor and people with disabilities. she says it all adds up to a system that can t take that much weight. i think that the programs are overstressed with the numbers. i mean it s why we see wait lists. reporter: is that the bottom line, we just don t have the budgets? we have not addressed the need for long-term services and support in this country. reporter: and lewis says she understands fighting for the resources that do exist is hard on families. she says the federal government mike will move to florida for his job alone. what does it mean to the family? it ll be long distance. and it leaves nick and my daughter and i here to try to figure out how we re going to be three quarters of a family and keep dad connected. reporter: and eric s family is also settling for a situation that s not perfect but better than him sitting at home. six months after he grad