This website provides information about education, internships, mentoring programs, and job trainings available to young people with disabilities. There are also resources provided in this section for young people with disabilities who receive benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and want to enter the workforce. This website is run by the US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and is a part of the award-winning government website, Disability.gov.
View the Website – U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy: Youth Programs.
HCBS.org is a clearinghouse that works to promote the development and expansion of home and community-based services for people who depend on these services to participate in community life. HCBS.org provides information, tools, data, and state-produced resources on best practices in home and community-based services.
View the Website – The Clearinghouse for Home and Community Based Services.
This webpage offers tips and suggestions for parents on how to support their child as their child transitions from school to employment. It offers links to resources and organizations that can help parents support their child. It also reiterates the importance for parents encouraging their children to advocate for themselves regarding their future.
View the Website – National Collaborative of Workforce and Disability for Youth – Family Page.
This webpage provides information about internship programs available to people with disabilities work experience with organizations like the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association on Health and Disability.
View the Website – Internship Information from the National Business and Disability Council.
This webpage provides links to Centers for Independent Living across the United States. Centers for Independent Living are consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability private nonprofit agencies that provide services in a local community and are operated by individuals with disabilities. Services include information and referral, independent living skills training, individual and systems advocacy, and peer counseling.
View the Website – Independent Living Research Utilization – Directory of Centers.
The webpage provides links for several fact sheets geared towards employers on issues like developing and funding customize, community-integrated employment outcomes; using assistive technology as a workplace support; discussing disclosure in regards to a job candidate; staff developmental and successful organizations changes; and dealing with concerns regarding social security and health care benefits from staff or potential job candidates with disabilities.
View the Fact Sheets – Policy, Training and Technical Assistance for Providers – Customized Employment Fact Sheets.
This toolkit, created by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability, assists transition-age youth with significant disabilities and their families and friends find out more about personal assistance services (PAS). This guide discusses many of the practical matters of having a personal assistance (including writing job descriptions; interviewing candidates; training and evaluating personal assistants; firing your personal assistant; and handling awkward moments). This guide also provides some information on details of the PAS system.
Download the Toolkit – Making the Move to Managing Your Own Personal Assistance Services.
This information sheet, created by the PACER Center, describes the protections provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act apply to students and their families when they apply for and attend postsecondary education. This information sheet describes how the ADA and Section 504 impact admission to a program, how the ADA affects postsecondary schools, accommodations that a student may require and which may be available under the ADA and Section 504, and accessibility requirements for programs under the ADA and Section 504. It also provides information on whether documentation of a disability is needed and discusses whether a person may want to or not want to disclose information about a disability.
Download the Fact Sheet – ADA Q&A – The ADA, Section 504 & Postsecondary Education (PDF).
This brief, created by the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, offers parents some suggestions to parents on steps that they can take to encourage their children to make informed decisions regarding their future as they reach transition and the age of majority. It also describes some of the legal changes that will occur as a person reaches the age of majority. Topics include transfer of rights and guardianship.
View the Brief – Parent Brief – Age of Majority.
This portion of the ODEP website provides information five critical educational and career developmental experiences that encourage youth to attain employment. In addition to providing information about these experiences that can be used by administrators and state policy makers in developing systems focused on improving employment outcomes for youth with disabilities, this webpage also provides links to other resources that discuss employment and transition strategies for youth with disabilities.
View the Website – Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) – Youth Page.
