Improving workforce entry and career advancement for youth and young adults with disabilities by supporting states to increase the number of Americans with disabilities successfully transitioning from school to employment or postsecondary settings.
Improving workforce entry and career advancement for youth and young adults with disabilities by supporting states to increase the number of Americans with disabilities successfully transitioning from school to employment or postsecondary settings.
What We Do
The Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth) provides state workforce system leaders and practitioners with technical assistance to strengthen strategic partnerships, workforce systems coordination, professional development, and career pathways to increase job opportunities for American youth and young adults with disabilities.
How We Work
Since 2019, CAPE-Youth has engaged 46 states, building relationships, sharing research, and providing customized reports, legislative and subject matter expertise, strategic partnership development, and youth engagement opportunities.
Research
Conduct research on policies and practices to increase the number of youth and young adults with disabilities successfully transitioning from school to employment or postsecondary settings, as well as to enhance the quality of employment opportunities available to them.
Partnership
Build strategic partnerships and share best practices among national, state, and local workforce and training systems.
Analysis
Provide states with customized analysis and technical assistance to help them address barriers and advance state-specific goals.
Support
Work with states to identify challenges and opportunities to expand career pathways for American youth and young adults with disabilities.
Conducts research on promising policies and practices related to improving transitions from school to employment for youth and young adults with disabilities.
Shares best practices and develops strategic partnerships among national, state, and local workforce and training systems.
Provides customized analysis and technical assistance to policymakers, state/local workforce representatives, and other youth transition stakeholders focusing on state-specific goals.
Assists states in identifying challenges and opportunities to expand career prospects for youth and young adults with disabilities.
Convenes a fellowship of youth and young adults with disabilities to engage policymakers, develop leadership skills, and make needed connections in disability employment policy.
What we do?
Conducts research on promising policies and practices related to improving transitions from school to employment for youth and young adults with disabilities.
Shares best practices and develops strategic partnerships among national, state, and local workforce and training systems.
Provides customized analysis and technical assistance to policymakers, state/local workforce representatives, and other youth transition stakeholders focusing on state-specific goals.
Assists states in identifying challenges and opportunities to expand career prospects for youth and young adults with disabilities.
Convenes a fellowship of youth and young adults with disabilities to engage policymakers, develop leadership skills, and make needed connections in disability employment policy.
Since 2019, CAPE-Youth has engaged 46 states – building relationships; sharing research; and providing customized reports, legislative and subject matter expertise, strategic partnership development, and youth engagement opportunities
Conduct research
on promising policies and practices related to improving transitions from school to employment for youth and young adults with disabilities.
Share best practices
among national, state, and local workforce and training systems.
Provide customized analysis and technical assistance
to policymakers, state/local workforce representatives, and other youth transition stakeholders on state-specific disability employment goals.
Assist states in identifying opportunities to expand career pathways
for youth and young adults with disabilities.
Convene a youth fellowship
of youth and young adults with disabilities to engage policymakers, develop leadership skills, and make needed connections in disability employment policy.
Guiding Policy Framework
CAPE-Youth’s work adheres to the “Blueprint for Success: A Strategic Workforce Policy Framework for Youth Job Seekers with Disabilities.” (The Blueprint is structured around the Guideposts for Success 2.0: A Framework for Successful Youth Transition to Adulthood, a research-based framework developed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy in collaboration with the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth). This workforce policy framework for American youth with disabilities highlights five evidence-based components of service delivery that lead to successful transitions to lifelong careers. These domains include:
- School-based preparatory experiences
- Career preparation and work-based learning experiences
- Youth development and leadership
- Connecting activities
- Family engagement