This planning process begins by encouraging youth and their families to dream about the youth’s future: what do they want to do for a career, where do they want to live, how do they want to live their lives? This is known as the DREAMS chart. The process then assists youth—with the support of their team—to identify their Strengths, Needs, Opportunities and Worries (S.N.O.W.) as they think about their goals and dreams for their future. The process concludes by developing a plan of action that can be referred to and updated periodically, and will detail the steps that can be taken by a young person to move closer to his or her goals for the future.

Many schools and organizations in Maine use the DREAMS/S.N.O.W. process as a tool to assist student-centered teams in planning for the future with a young person. DREAM/S.N.O.W. materials, in addition to training on or further explanation of this process can be made available by contacting the Maine Transition Network’s office at 800/328-9549