Specific Populations

This Guide is intended to help practitioners, administrators, and policymakers in secondary and postsecondary education programs, transition programs, One-Stop Career Centers, youth employment programs, and community rehabilitation programs to improve services and outcomes for youth, ages 14 to 25, with diagnosed and undiagnosed learning disabilities. This Guide includes numerous quick reference charts, tables, and tools for counselors, career advisors, and other professionals who work directly with youth. In-depth information is provided on a variety of topics, including the types and impact of learning disabilities, needed supports, and research-based interventions. This Guide is intended to increase awareness of the fact that the workforce development system serves many youth who have learning disabilities that may never have been identified and many others who may know they have a learning disability but choose not to disclose. Although focusing primarily on youth with learning disabilities, many of the strategies and approaches advocated in this Guide, which are premised on universal design, may be of practical use for other youth.

The youth involved in the foster care system represent one of the most vulnerable populations in our society and will require the expertise of caring professionals in multiple systems working together to “move the needle” of success upward. Collaborative efforts across the country between workforce development, child welfare, mental health, schools, and other community institutions are needed to improve the chances that youth in foster care will make a successful transition into adulthood and be able to lead productive lives including having careers of their choice.

In America there is an expectation that youth will grow up, get an education, develop skills, get a job, become economically self-sufficient and contribute to society. However, for many youth today, there are enormous challenges to achieving this goal. There is a growing recognition that youth involved in the juvenile corrections system represent one of the most vulnerable populations in our country.

Insuring that a young person is healthy and ready for work, independent living, and civic engagement is easier said than done. There is no coordinated system that guides youth through the process of becoming productive and self-sufficient members of society and the labor market. Pieces of the system exist, such as Career and Technical Education, transition planning under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and programs available through Vocational Rehabilitation and the Workforce Investment Act. Unfortunately, however, these services are often incomplete and uncoordinated – and therefore ineffective. Youth with educational and career challenges, such as those with mental health needs, too often fall off one of the cliffs between youth and adult systems or get shunted down an arbitrary or inappropriate service tunnel based on considerations dictated by the system rather than the youth’s wants and needs.