Connecting Activities
Young people need to be connected to programs, services, activities, and supports that help them gain access to chosen post-school options. All youth may also need one or more of the following:
- Mental and physical health services
- Transportation
- Tutoring
- Financial planning and management
- Post-program supports thorough structured arrangements in postsecondary institutions and adult service agencies
- Connection to other services and opportunities (e.g., recreation).
Youth with disabilities may need:
- Appropriate assistive technologies
- Community orientation and mobility training (e.g. accessible transportation, bus routes, housing, health clinics)
- Exposure to post-program supports such as independent living centers and other consumer-driven community-based support service agencies
- Personal assistance services, including attendants, readers, interpreters, or other such services, and
- Benefits-planning counseling, including information that will help them in transitioning from public assistance to self-sufficiency.
Resources
- Entering the World of Work: What Youth with Mental Health Needs Should Know about Accommodations
An ODEP fact sheet for youth with mental health needs entering the workforce which addresses important concerns they may have regarding disclosure and accommodations.
- GovBenefits
A searchable database of federal government assistance programs.
- Social Security Administration Office of Support Programs for Youth with Disabilities
A web site dedicated to youth with disabilities, providing information useful to youth, parents, families, teachers and counselors.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration
A federal web site with information on substance abuse and mental health.
- Healthy and Ready to Work
A web site, which provides information for youth with disabilities and their families to maximize their health potential while transitioning to adulthood
- Center for Applied Special Technology
An organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through the research and development of innovative, technology-based educational resources and strategies.
- Able Data
A searchable database of over 19,000 assistive technology products
- Tax Facts
An initiative to build knowledge and use of favorable tax provisions, while providing financial education for individuals with disabilities, their families and employers.
- Excellence in Economic Education Program
A U.S. Department of Education program, which promotes economic and financial literacy for K-12 students
- National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media, and Materials
A center that promotes the effective use of technology to enhance educational outcomes for students with disabilities
- Health Finder/Teens
Information for teenagers on how to stay healthy.
- Medline Plus
Information from the National Institute of Health on teen health issues.
- The National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice
An organization that focuses on assisting practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to identify and implement effective school-based delinquency prevention programs, education and special education services in juvenile correctional facilities, and transition supports for youth re-entering communities.
- The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
This center promotes awareness of the mental health needs of youth in contact with the juvenile justice system and to assist the field in developing improved policies and practices
- The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
The primary information resource for federal mental health programs, topical publications and connections to local mental health resources.
