IEl’s National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) invites youth, professionals, and families to participate in a National Disability Employment Awareness Month Twitter chat on October 24 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. EDT. This discussion with youth leaders will focus on ways to support youth with disabilities as they make decisions about, prepare for,

IEL launched the third wave of its Right Turn Career-Focused Transition Initiative, partnering with community based organizations in five communities around the country, including Houston, Tex., Lansing, Mich., Los Angeles, Calif., Nashville, Tenn., and Phoenix, Ariz. Right Turn provides a career development process to young adults ages 18 to 24 who have been involved with

In June, IEL delivered a four-day training in Toronto for case workers in a cross-system pilot providing career development to youth with disabilities. Ontario’s Ministry of Community and Social Services is piloting intensive case management with case workers from two agencies—Ontario’s Disability Support Program and Ontario Works—collaborating to support the employment goals and aspirations of

IEL’s National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth released two new research briefs: Making the Right Turn: A Research Update on Improving Transition Outcomes Among Youth Involved in the Juvenile Corrections System and Making the Right Turn: A Research Update on Prevention and Diversion for Justice Involved Youth. These two briefs synthesize the latest

IEL’s Curtis Richards, with Eve Hill and Regina Klein (with Inclusivity Strategic Consulting), published a policy brief intended to inform school leaders about their responsibilities under recent case law to prepare youth with disabilities for work and careers. It can also be helpful for students, families, vocational rehabilitation and developmental disability agency personnel, and community

The IEL-led National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for youth (NCWD/Youth) published Promoting Quality Individualized Learning Plans throughout the Lifespan: A Revised and Updated ILP How to Guide 2.0. The guide provides a combination of practical career development resources and activities for implementing quality ILPs, as well as strategies for gaining buy-in and developing capacity

IEL’s Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP) is a featured grantee of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Since 2009, RAMP has provided career-focused mentoring to over 2,500 youth with disabilities in 20 communities across the country. In the first seven years, participants achieved these results: 96% stayed in

The IEL-led National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) released a video about the National Youth Action Council on Transition (YouthACT). In the video, youth and adults representing the three cohorts who have partnered through the YouthACT initiative share their hopes for youth, their accomplishments, and their perspectives on working together. YouthACT is

The IEL-led National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth released a brief aimed at assisting youth development and leadership programs with increasing career development opportunities for youth. The brief describes how organizations can assess the extent to which they currently provide quality career development opportunities and suggests ways to integrate more career development skills-building

The IEL-led National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth released a brief that describes strategies and considerations for designing and delivering professional development for youth service professionals at the state and local levels. It highlights strategies, required resources, and lessons learned from three different professional development initiatives led by IEL. The brief informs the

The Right Turn Career-Focused Transition Initiative (Right Turn) provides a career development process for youth who are involved with or at-risk of becoming involved with the juvenile justice system. IEL celebrates youth, such as Ricardo Mixon, who exemplify the powerful impact of Right Turn program sites across the country. Right Turn has served over 1500

IEL President Johan E. Uvin attended SXSWedu in March. He reflects on the event, which fosters innovation in learning by hosting a diverse and energetic community of stakeholders across a variety of backgrounds in education: “One of my main takeaways was that the place-based strategies underlying IEL’s work align well with the policy and investment

IEL’s convened the annual meeting for the second phase of the Right Turn Career-Focused Transition Initiative. Since 2013, the Department of Labor-funded program has yielded an array of powerful outcomes for youth involved with the juvenile justice system through restorative justice projects, record expungement, school retention, job placement, and more. As Year 1 of the

In January, IEL’s Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP), and Right Turn Career-Focused Initiative joined youth and programs around the country in celebrating National Mentoring Month. Youth engaged in relationship-building activities, including game nights, career tours, and movie nights (shout-out to those who saw Hidden Figures and met a female NASA scientist who knew the

The IEL-led National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth released a series of briefs for community colleges: Supporting Student Success through Connecting Activities. Community college leaders are increasingly concerned with finding ways to better support and engage students to improve college completion rates. The series highlights the importance of connecting postsecondary students to services and