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Building a Youth Specific, Youth Driven Transition Program

Building a Youth Specific, Youth Driven Transition Program. Panhandle Independent Living Center 1118 S. Taylor Amarillo, TX 79101. Agenda. The 5 W’s of a Youth Program Why should youth have their own program? Who should be our target? What unique needs should it address?.

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Building a Youth Specific, Youth Driven Transition Program

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  1. Building a Youth Specific, Youth Driven Transition Program Panhandle Independent Living Center 1118 S. Taylor Amarillo, TX 79101

  2. Agenda • The 5 W’s of a Youth Program • Why should youth have their own program? • Who should be our target? • What unique needs should it address?

  3. Where should the youth specific activities take place? • When should youth be provided with services?

  4. The “How” of Developing a Youth Program • Recruitment of Youth Participants • The Importance of Planning & Variety • How to Engage Community Support

  5. Fundraising / Grant Writing • Enlistment & Role of Volunteers • Prepare Parents for Youth Programs • Evaluating Our Own Program

  6. Overview Suggestions for Building a Successful Program

  7. What? • What is our YES program? • A program developed to assist middle and high school youth with disabilities in learning the skills and tools necessary to make healthy decisions as they approach adulthood. • It is designed to meet the unique needs that these youth face in their daily lives.

  8. Our main focus is to give these students a positive, educational environment where they can learn from each other in a fun environment.

  9. What our program IS NOT? • We are not a day care or day camp program. • We are not staffed to provide a full-time daily program. • We are not the answer to a parent’s childcare needs. • We are not equipped to offer transportation to and from our ILC.

  10. Why? • Why does PILC offer a youth program? • Independent Living Centers’ staff are dedicated to providing education, information, and positive environment that empowers people with disabilities to make positive life choices on their own behalf. • We believe this is best done at a younger age before complacency and dependency has set in and become a way of life.

  11. Who? • Who does PILC serve in our transitional program? • Our youth participants range in age from 12 to 21. They must also be a student in middle or high school. • Students are allowed to remain in our program for one last summer of activities following their graduation from high school.

  12. They then enter our adult program, if they choose, which allows: • them interaction with their older peers, • them to share their YES experiences with the older consumers as a source of true peer support/peer counseling • the staff to open YES enrollment to additional youth.

  13. When? • When do we offer our after school program? • YES meets the first and third Monday of each month from 4:30-6:00 p.m. • This allows the youth time to get from school to our center, enjoy an after school snack, and engage in regular IL skills training, empowerment activities, and social and recreational events.

  14. YES also meets each Monday and Wednesday during an 10-week extensive summer program. • This schedule allows for our rural county students to access our Panhandle Transit system, which only has routes to Amarillo on these days. • The students receive 4 hours of services/activities each of the two days.

  15. It allows for equal calendar time between our youth and adult programs, which means that adult services are not interfered with during the summer months. • YES provides activities during special school breaks such as Spring Break to ensure the students do not become isolated during the extended school holiday.

  16. Where? • Where should this youth specific activities take place? • Your ILC provides a perfect location because: • ILC core services provide valuable skills training and opportunities at a young age. • The IL philosophy, the history, and culture of the disability community are valuable lessons for any person with a disability.

  17. Your staff and board members provide an excellent source for positive role models who exemplify the lifestyles of independent individuals who have overcome their own obstacles and have learned how to “work around” or limit the impact of their own limitations.

  18. The “HOW” of Successful Program Development

  19. Recruitment of Youth Participants • Establish eligibility and intake requirements • Identify appropriate allied agencies for referral purposes • Utilize assessments properly to gain valuable information

  20. Plan Carefully / Provide Variety • Allow youth an opportunity to plan with staff. • Early exercise in consumer control consumer directed philosophy • Reinforces empowerment skills • Provides an exercise in decision-making

  21. Plan a variety of activities that provide practice and discussion with essential skills • Use hands-on activities and real world applications • Utilize the ILC 4 core services: • IL Skills Training – Cooking, Money Management Skills, etc.

  22. Peer Counseling – provide group discussions on an area of need or interest (example: overcoming obstacles or improving your self-esteem) • Advocacy • Instruct students on becoming their own self advocate by teaching them techniques to become assertive on their own behalf • Assisting parents to become a powerful, positive advocate for their child and their needs.

  23. Information & Referrals – provide resources for a multitude of consumer needs including: • Transportation • Employment • Mobility Assistance • Housing • Medical Programs • Adaptive Equipment • Emergency food

  24. Avoid getting in a rut • Make each and every day different • Keep the youth guessing • Allow free socialization time for youth • Provide unstructured times for visiting to encourage the natural building of relationships • Lunch Time • Outside Activities • Board Games

  25. Avoid the “classroom feel” • Ensure all activities are educational and FUN! • Educational Field Trips • Motivational Guest Speakers • Role Playing • Building Effective Communication Skills • Empowerment Activities • Team Building Exercises • Positive Peer Role Models

  26. Engage Community Support • Network with business leaders and community organizations • Do not be afraid to “beg” for reduced rates and/or freebies • Most approached are willing to assist with most anything a program needs when it is aimed at assisting youth

  27. Always say, “Thank You.” • Ensure that all contributors, speakers, donations, etc. receive a hand written thank you note signed by all youth participants • They will remember you next year because of this simple common courtesy.

  28. Fundraising / Grant Writing • Consider asking local business and charitable organizations for start up money • Provide them PR by placing their company logo on the back of t-shirts, which is then worn on all field trips • Find long-term funding to ensure longevity of the program

  29. Utilize your funding to provide a completely free program since the majority of these youth come from low-income families. Ensure that there are NO: • Registration Fees / Application Fees • Admissions fees for field trip expenses • Lunch expenses on outings outside your ILC

  30. Enlistment & Role of Volunteers • Enlist as much free hands-on help as possible • Recruit individuals with and without disabilities • Consider high school age volunteers/mentors

  31. Ensure mentors and volunteers have positive characteristics / comfort level with disabilities

  32. Preparing Parents • Avoid problems early • Prepare parents before program begins • Ensure they understand the purpose and mission of the program • Independence is taught, encouraged, and practiced. • NOT day care or camp

  33. Invite parents to communicate their suggestions for activities and material to be taught

  34. Consider implementing a parent support group • Provides parents with their own guidance and peer support as their children begin to exercise their independence. • Vital step to encouraging parents allow their children to practice the skills taught within your program

  35. Evaluation Procedure • Provide youth, parents, and community and opportunity to provide you written feedback regarding the program itself and the activities provided. • Provide surveys before and during the program • Provide larger assessment to evaluate program at the end of each summer

  36. Additional Resources • Building Youth Mentoring Programs – Community Toolbox http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/sub_section_main_1197.htm • Partners for Youth with Disabilities http://www.pyd.org/ • Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring: A Guidebook for Program Development http://www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/foundations.pdf

  37. Building Relationships A Guide for New Mentors http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/29_publication.pdf • Ten Tips to Mentoring Youth with Disabilities http://www.prtaonline.org/PDF%20Files/Ten%20Tips%20to%20Mentoring%20YWD.pdf • Group Work A Counseling Specialty by Samuel T. Gladding (4th Edition)

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