Engaging BIPOC Out-Of-School Youth With Disabilities Through Interagency Collaborations: Lessons Learned From Centers for Independent Living

This study explored partnerships that Centers for Independent Living (CILs) engaged in to deliver services for out-of-school youth (OSY) with disabilities who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), a historically under-resourced group. The research team conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with executive directors or staff at seven CILs that serve large populations of BIPOC OSY with disabilities. CILs that participated in this study formed collaborations to support youth with disabilities, including BIPOC OSY. CIL respondents discussed the partnerships they established with vocational rehabilitation agencies, community-based organizations, secondary schools, and institutions of postsecondary education, to provide bidirectional and one-way referrals and connect youth to volunteering, employment, and peer group opportunities. CILs and other organizations that serve transition-age youth might create similar partnerships, particularly with vocational rehabilitation agencies, to reach and engage their minority OSY consumers.