News Release
US Department of Labor announces $7.5M cooperative agreement to continue support for disabled youth employment initiatives
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $7.5 million, five-year cooperative agreement to continue support for a policy center aimed at boosting disabled youth employment.
Administered by the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, the agreement will provide $1.5 million annually for the agency’s Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth. ODEP created the center in 2019 to enhance national, state and local workforce systems, focusing on improved outcomes for youth with disabilities, especially those from underserved communities.
“Expanding employment opportunities for disabled youth is critical to achieving workforce inclusion,” said Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn M. Williams. “This cooperative agreement will fund research, develop partnerships and share evidence-based best practices to help identify new career pathways and improve transition outcomes for these young people.”
The center’s development and management will be overseen by the Council of State Governments, a nonpartisan organization that fosters collaboration between elected and appointed officials across the country and the six U.S. territories.
The Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth is a collaboration between ODEP, the Council of State Governments, the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability at Cornell University, San Diego State University Interwork Institute and the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals.
