Introduction: Researchers at CAPE-Youth designed a study to quantify levels of collaboration among agencies supporting the transition to adulthood for youth and young adults with disabilities (Y&YAD). In addition to this, they aimed to:

• Identify common collaboration practices,
• Estimate how collaboration relates to vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency employment outcomes, and
• Determine the impact of COVID-19 on collaboration.

Key Components:

Phase 1: Researchers collected data from 338 participants via a national online survey focused on quantifying the frequency of collaboration, partner knowledge, quality of collaboration, data use, and confidence.

Phase 2: Researchers collected data through focus group interviews across nine states to explore best practices and challenges related to programmatic and policy-based collaboration practices.

Key Findings:

Phase 1: Researchers found that job role had the greatest impact on collaboration ratings by survey respondents (i.e., supervisors tended to rate their collaborations with other agencies higher than frontline practitioners).

Phase 2: There were four main themes that emerged:

• The Focus group discussions confirmed the Levels of Collaboration Scale (LCS) framework by Frey et al. (2006) which includes mutuality and role clarity, as well as information and resource sharing and communication.
• The Focus group discussions touched on how collaboration efforts support youth empowerment.
• The findings indicate the core 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) partners benefit from federal requirements to collaborate, however weaker relationships exist with non-core partners (e.g., juvenile justice, mental health, and child welfare). Thus, state level efforts to formalize collaborations with non-core partners are important.
• The findings indicate that a lack of knowledge and staff turnover often result in fewer connections among agencies, ultimately negatively affecting youth and young adults with disabilities.

Full Youth & Adult Transition Systems Collaboration Report: CY_Collaboration-Report_Nov2024

Collaboration to Support Youth Employment Outcomes Webinar Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMWv2hTs2GU