May is Mental Health Month and the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) has released three new publications focused on Mental Health issues

Mental Health Case Study Report: Transitioning Youth with Mental Health Needs to Meaningful Employment and Independent Living

NCWD/Youth, with funding from the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) of the U.S. Department of Labor, carried out a study on successful strategies to help youth with mental health needs transition to postsecondary education, employment, and independent lives. The study focuses primarily on the role of skills development, work, and career exploration. It presents the findings from case studies of five promising program sites and identifies program design features and system-level policies that appear to help youth and young adults with mental health needs better transition into adulthood and life-long success.

In addition, NCWD/Youth has also recently published two Short Cuts that summarize key information from longer pieces previously published by NCWD/Youth:

Tunnels and Cliffs: A Guide for Workforce Development Practitioners and Policymakers Serving Youth with Mental Health Needs

This document summarizes the challenges faced by youth with mental health needs when they enter inappropriate service tunnels dictated by their point of entry and when they encounter transition cliffs as they age out of youth systems and attempt to access adult services. It offers examples of emerging promising practices related to career preparation and employment for youth with mental health needs and offers an action plan to make the coordination of services a cross-systems priority.

Navigating Tunnels and Cliffs: Empowering Families and Caregivers to Assist Youth with Mental Health Needs in Preparing for Work

This document summarizes challenges facing families and caregivers of youth with mental health needs, identifies resources available to assist them in helping the young person prepare for a career and community life, and provides an action plan on how to make coordination and collaboration of mental health services and career preparation a priority.

NCWD/Youth Newly Published Entrepreneurship Guide

NCWD/Youth has recently released Road to Self-Sufficiency: A Guide to Entrepreneurship for Youth with Disabilities

This Guide promotes the benefits of entrepreneurship education and self-employment for all youth, including youth with disabilities. It provides tools for those providing services to youth with disabilities to use entrepreneurship as a means to attaining independence and self-sufficiency. It also provides guidance to those who have been providing entrepreneurship programming on how to effectively include youth with disabilities in their programs. A must read for organizations and practitioners working with all youth, policy-makers, and parents.

NCWD-Youth has released two InfoBriefs:

Youth and Disability Disclosure: The Role of Families and Advocates

This InfoBrief highlights NCWD/Youth’s The 411 on Disability Disclosure and explores the role families and advocates play in helping youth understand the importance of appropriate disability disclosure.

Vocational Assessment and Its Role in Career Planning

This InfoBrief discusses career planning and vocational assessment for transition-age youth.

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All publications can be downloaded at http://www.ncwd-youth.info/ or single copies can be requested and multiple copies purchased from NCWD/Youth by calling (202) 822-8405.