KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES FOR STAFF WORKING WITH YOUTH

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth added a new publication Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities of Youth Service Practitioners: The Centerpiece of a Successful Workforce Development System to our website. The paper identifies the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that youth service practitioners (frontline staff) need to serve all youth and additional KSAs needed to serve youth with disabilities.

Youth receive workforce development services in a wide range of settings. Youth service practitioners are often the first contact or “face” of the workforce development system. They play an important role in connecting all youth to workforce preparation opportunities and support. Youth service practitioners must keep pace with constant changes in the labor market, as the nation’s economy shifts and new technologies evolve, and also with the evolving needs and culture of today’s youth.

There is little professional training available for youth service practitioners and no formal system for accessing the training that is available, according to the paper. This paper is a first step by NCWD/Youth to raise the competencies of youth service practitioners. Click to view download options for the paper.

PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THE KSA!

Based on the paper described above, NCWD/Youth has developed a survey to capture both relevance and proficiency of the competencies identified. The KSA Survey focuses on 10 “Competency Areas” compiled from the common emerging competencies across these initiatives. We need your feedback to determine which competencies are most relevant to your work, what professional development opportunities are currently available in your area, and the priority areas for training to be developed.

To take the survey click here and follow the directions. Results will be posted on the website and listed in this newsletter.

HIGH SCHOOL REFORM TALK AND TOOLS

Those who work with youth with disabilities know that high school does not always result in success for these students. According to the US Department of Education, 47 percent of youth with disabilities graduated with a regular diploma in the 1998-99 school year.

Potential solutions are found in a recently released report, "Crisis or Possibility? Conversations About the American High School (PDF),” summarizing discussions from seven national conferences on high schools and high-school-age youths held last year. The Washington-based National High School Alliance, a partnership of 40-plus organizations established in 2002 to promote equity, excellence, and the development of high-school-age youths, sponsored one of the meetings and produced the report.

Another publication, “Essential Tools: Increasing Rates of School Completion: Moving from Policy and Research to Practice,” is available from the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition. This manual describes eleven proven interventions for increasing school completion among youth with disabilities. The manual can be downloaded at http://www.ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/dropout/

Upcoming Youth Events

YouthBuild USA’s YouthBuild Academy for Transformation, the National Youth Employment Coalition’s PEPNet Institute, and the Campaign for YOUth have scheduled a series of related events in September for organizations and staff in the youth development movement. For more information, visit the websites of each at:

• YouthBuild Academy for Transformation
• PEPNet Institute
• Campaign for YOUth Advocacy Day

Remember to check out our Events page for more listings.