The Colton Redlands Yucaipa Regional Occupational Program (CRY-ROP) was awarded a federal cooperative agreement with the Institute for Educational Leadership under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy to operate a National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) project.
Nationwide, there were only four new awardees chosen for the project.
The agreement is to support two youth and an adult partner as a team to participate in the Youth Action Council on Transition (YouthACT). The YouthACT is a national leadership development initiative designed to get more youth with disabilities and their allies involved as leaders who partner with adults and organizations to improve opportunities for young people to succeed.
The NCWD/Youth uses the term “youth transition” is used to describe the process and period of change young people go through between the ages of 12 and 25 that involves developing the full range of competencies they need to succeed in adult life including employment, postsecondary education, and independent and community living. While many organizations and government agencies are responsible for helping youth transition to adulthood, young people rarely have a voice in the decisions these agencies and organizations make about the programs, services, and policies that affect them. Increasing youth voice in organization and agency decision making and policy making is important to ensure youth receive the opportunities, services, and support they need during the transition to adulthood.
The first step of the project is for the CRY-ROP YouthACT team to travel to Washington, D.C. on Oct. 29 to 31 to meet with the other teams from across the country for leadership training.