By: Matthew George
Youth and young adults with disabilities (Y&YADs) can face significant barriers accessing employment and are employed at lower rates than their peers without disabilities. Y&YADs with additional intersecting social identities, including those belonging to racial or ethnic minority communities or those involved in the juvenile justice system, may experience even greater barriers to accessing employment supports and attaining and maintaining employment.
The Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth) has released a brief outlining strategies states can utilize to better support Y&YADs with intersecting identities in their transitions to employment. CAPE-Youth is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 24 from 3:30pm-5:00pm ET to share those strategies and explore specific state examples.
Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” in 1989 to refer to the various identities each person has and how they intersect or overlap in ways that can be empowering or oppressive. These identities include gender, race/ethnicity, class, abilities, sexual orientation and nationality. While the intersecting identities of a Y&YAD can pose additional employment challenges, their intersecting identities also can serve as specific protective factors that, if appropriately identified and leveraged, can mitigate the employment barriers they face. For example, states can leverage an individual’s linguistically diverse background by identifying and collaborating with Latino firms looking to hire Spanish-speaking individuals.
State policymakers should consider several strategies for designing and implementing programs that address the unique needs and leverage the unique strengths of Y&YADs who have intersecting identities. These strategies include:
- Using data to identify needs and barriers involving Y&YADs with intersecting identities;
- Developing strategies for engaging Y&YADs with intersecting identities and empowering them to participate in the design of youth-serving programs;
- Coordinating among agencies and community organizations to develop comprehensive programs for Y&YADs with intersecting identities;
- Adapting or creating workforce programs to serve Y&YADs with intersecting identities;
- Hiring a more diverse workforce system staff; and
- Developing the cultural competency of workforce system staff.
The webinar, presented in collaboration with The Council of State Governments, will discuss these strategies in greater detail. The webinar will feature speakers from four initiatives who will discuss their efforts to serve different populations of Y&YADs, including youth involved in juvenile justice and foster care systems, tribal youth, LGBTQ+ youth and ethnically and racially diverse youth.
Please register for the May 24 webinar here.
