These resources have been gathered to assist Centers for Independent Living with the involvement and engagement of youth and young people with disabilities. The wiki was developed to support the 2 1/2 day on location training scheduled for May 12-14, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. Many Centers have expressed an interest in adding or enhancing services, supports, and outreach activities to youth and young adults with disabilities (ages 14-22). Youth may face more challenges to achieving self-determination and independent living than adults with disabilities. Because of their age, they are sometimes omitted from the decision-making and policy-setting activities that affect their lives, even in consumer-directed centers for independent living. Being inclusive of youth and young adults (like with any group) requires that an intentional process be set in motion whereby the organization fosters open attitudes; conducts strategic planning; and creates policies, procedures, programs, services, and an evaluation approach that not only allow but encourage that group’s full inclusion.
The wiki designed for the Keep It Real training includes an array of resources and tools, specifically selected to assist centers at the organizational as well as program level. It offers examples of documents Centers can use as guides to create their own policies and procedures. It has publications and products developed by youth organizations. And it has links to organizations that are successfully demonstrating how to develop youth and young adults as leaders both within organizations and the community.
After clicking on any of the links below, hit your browser's back button to return to this home page.
Introduction to Keep It Real: Youth Leadership Development in CILs
Day One, May 12, 2010
Day Two, May 13, 2010
Day Three, May 14, 2010
Access Living
Disabled Young People's Collective
National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN)
This training is presented by Stacey Milbern, Amber Smock, and Julia Thomas. Learn more about the presenters.
CIL-NET is a part of the IL NET national training and technical assistance project for centers for independent living (CIL-NET) and statewide independent living councils (SILC-NET). The IL NET is operated by the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann in partnership with the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL). Support for development of this wiki and this training was provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration under grant number H132B070002-09. No official endorsement of the Department of Education should be inferred.
We want to ensure that all training participants are able to fully participate regardless of disability. We will do our best to ensure that all required training materials are highly accessible. At the same time, we realize that there are accessibility issues that may affect some materials that are on the Internet. While we will implement accessibility as much as possible, the wiki may include links to external sites that are not fully accessible. We will provide assistance where necessary to ensure that all participants can fully participate.
CIL-NET Staff: Darrell Lynn Jones, Carol Eubanks, and Sharon Finney (ILRU); Tim Fuchs and Eleanor Canter (NCIL)
Senior Editor: Darrell Lynn Jones
Web Production Staff: Sharon Finney and Carol Eubanks