Youth Development & Leadership

Why Youth Development & Leadership (YD/L)

Youth Development is a process that prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them gain skills and competencies. Youth Leadership is part of that process. In order to control and direct their own lives based on informed decisions, YD/L need to be included as core components of transition programming for all youth, including youth with disabilities.

NCWD/Y organizes YD/L into five areas learning, connecting, thriving, working, and leading, consistent with the framework supported by the Forum for Youth Investment.

Five Areas of YD/L

Using the Forum for Youth Investment’s Framework, NCWD/Y has outlined intended outcomes and activities for each of the following five areas.

Find out more information about each of these areas by clicking on them below.

1. Learning
2. Connecting
3. Thriving
4. Working
5. Leading

Resources

Programs & Networks

• Youth Information, Training, and Resource Centers (YITRCs)
• Association of Youth Leadership Forums
• HS/HT (High School/High Tech)
• DMD (Disability Mentoring Day)
• Job Shadow Day

Additional Resources

• Youth Transition Toolkit: A Guide for Young People with Disabilities Transitioning to Adulthood, a resource of Talent Knows No Limits (TKNL)
• When You’re 18 — A Health Care Transition Guide for Young Adults, a resource of the Health Care Transition Initiative of the Institute for Child Health Policy (ICHP) at the University of Florida
• A Developmental Perspective on Workplace Readiness: Preparing High School Students for Success
• Youth Governance: How and Why it Can Help Out-of-School Time Programs Involve At-Risk Youth

Publications

• Youth Development & Leadership: A Backgrounder
• The 411 on Disability Disclosure
• Paving the Way to Work: A Guide to Career-Focused Mentoring
• Youth Development/Leadership Glossary
• All Youth Development Publications