Promising Practices to Help Minority Youth with Disabilities Make the Transition to Postsecondary Life

The transition from school to postsecondary life can be difficult. Research shows that youth with disabilities are less likely than their nondisabled peers to successfully make this transition. The disparities in outcomes are larger for youth with disabilities who are from racial and ethnic minority groups. Minority youth are also more likely to be disconnected.

This Minority Youth and Centers for Independent Living (MY-CIL) practice brief is the first of a series in which the project will share key takeaways from its research with Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and other stakeholders about promising, evidence-based, and evidence-informed practices.

This brief summarizes a review of the literature and shares selected findings about two promising practices found to contribute to positive outcomes for participants, (1) collaborative partnerships and (2) culturally competent services. This information could help CILs as they expand and improve services for youth and young adults with disabilities from minority backgrounds who have completed or otherwise left secondary education.