Looking for a Youth Information Center in your area?

For additional information on the concept, design, or implementation of youth information centers, please check out the national website at http://www.addyic.org

SLAYD (Los Angeles)
http://www.slayd.com
The South Los Angeles Youth and Young adult Determination Center [SLAYD] Project Description: SLAYD strives to create innovative opportunities for youth and emerging leaders with developmental disabilities to reach their goals and achieve their dreams. The center focuses on three key areas: education, employment, and healthcare. They assist youth in gaining access to community self advocacy, leadership, and mentoring programs. They work with local agencies, conduct training, disseminate materials, and provide information and referrals. Information is available in alternative formats and languages other than English (upon request)

Center for Emerging Leadership (CEL):Peer to Peer Mentorship By and For People with Developmental Disabilities (San Diego)
http://www.interwork.sdsu.edu/cel
The CEL program partners with self advocates, families, and professionals from the rehabilitation, education, and housing areas to develop a center that will enhance the self advocacy and leadership skills of individuals with developmental disabilities. The program uses a peer model “for and by” people with disabilities who are employed at the center. Peer mentors assist youth with advocacy and speak at group meetings, classes, and conferences on a range of topics such as advocacy, employment, and living in the community.
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Youth Empowerment Resource Center (Washington, DC)
http://www.inclusionresearch.org/YERC/YERC%20HOME.HTML
The District of Columbia Self-Advocacy Empowerment Center is designed by and for youth with developmental disabilities from underserved communities. DC youth and emerging leaders learn about policies; services and supports that impact their lives assisting them in school, obtaining employment and opportunities for further development as leaders and self advocates. The empowerment groups provide youth and their families with direct tutoring, counseling, leadership training, and self advocacy and provide a supportive community and opportunities for leadership development. The empowerment groups receive technical assistance and have access to youth-friendly, culturally appropriate web based information, referral, and planning resources specific to the Washington, D.C. area and pertinent to employment and higher education.
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Leadership, Employment, Advocacy, Development (LEAD) (Delaware)
http://www.udel.edu/cds
LEAD promotes the benefits of education, employment, recreation, and health for enhancing the lives and well being of youth and emerging leaders, and increasing their community participation.. Three Youth Centers across the state develop, maintain, and offer access to database and web-based information and resources. Youth participate on a project advisory committee, through volunteer and service work, employment, higher education programs, social networking, and centralized information and services through the Youth Centers. LEAD also conducts a Junior Partners in Policymaking program for youth and emerging leaders to develop skills in leadership, policy, and self advocacy.
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Iowa Self-Advocacy and Leadership for Youth with Disabilities (SALYD) pronounced salad (Iowa)
http://www.salyd.org
SALYD is establishing a statewide advocacy organization for youth with developmental disabilities and is empowering youth and emerging leaders with developmental disabilities as key leaders in the design of the information and resource center. The center assists youth in polishing their self-advocacy skills so they can participate in the Center design, and contribute on a broader scale to the statewide system design effort.
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Youth Center for Youth, Information, Education and Leadership for Developmental Disabilities (YIELDD) (Chicago, IL)
http://www.accessliving.org/Youth_and_Education.htm
The Youth Center promotes the independent living and transition skills of individuals with developmental disabilities. Through the program, youth gain the skills and knowledge required to attain and retain quality education, stable employment and housing, and the potential to live the independent lives they choose. The leadership program addresses core independent living issues such as disability history, culture, self-esteem, rights training, policy issues, and advocacy skills. Participants of the program are connected with important resources and tools to help them move toward independent living.
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Youth Empowerment Alliance (Maryland)
http://www.md-council.org/
The Center provides information on promising practices and resources for youth with developmental disabilities, their families, professionals, and others. The Center reviews, develops, implements, evaluates, and widely distributes leadership training curricula on increasing student participation in their Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s). Key areas include how students can take the lead in their IEP’s and increase their self-advocacy/self determination skills. Youth and emerging leaders engage in activities that enable them to define a vision for themselves and their communities, and connect them with mentors and community resources. The Youth Empowerment Alliance believes that increasing youth skills can result in increased graduation rates, successful transition planning, obtaining employment, and a higher quality of life. The center will also help strengthen organizations to become more welcoming, inclusive, and supporting to youth leaders with developmental disabilities.
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Pathways: The Road to Leadership (Minnesota)
http://www.ipsiiinc.com
The Pathways program seeks to increase the odds of youth minorities with developmental disabilities and emerging leaders to seek and maintain employment. The Pathways training program is one that can be replicated throughout Minnesota and the rest of the United States. The Center conducts expanded outreach for its pre-partner leadership course for emerging leaders and includes a virtual and computerized learning center, resources and referral services, leadership training, and opportunities to obtain mentoring.
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The Next Generation: Acting for Advocacy (North Carolina)
http://www.self-advocate.org
The Next Generation: Acting for Advocacy is designed to empower youth and emerging leaders with developmental disabilities in school districts within underserved areas of North Carolina. A4A wants to improve the odds for youth with developmental disabilities to graduate with a high school diploma and find and maintain employment. Their model “a rehearsal for life” approach has students practice applying tools through activities and enacting realistic situations with the support of emerging leaders and mentors. Students, through the program, increase self advocacy skills, strengthen their sense of competency and competence levels, and develop a more positive expectation for their futures. The program also involves parents, guardians and school personnel.
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El Poder De Los Jovenes (New Mexico)
http://www.arcnm.org/index.php/news_events/article47
El Poder de los Jovenes (Empowerment of Youth) offers information, training, and resources to young people with developmental disabilities in the southern Dona Ana County of New Mexico. The project is formulating a detailed plan to increase self advocacy and self determination skills to help young people achieve their goals and improve educational and employment outcomes. The program also helps to increase the capacity of community organizations to promote inclusion and participation of youth with disabilities and emerging leaders through person-centered planning, mentoring, self-advocacy training, community leadership, and policy-making activities.
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Oklahoma Alliance for Youth (OKAY) (Oklahoma)
OKAY works with unserved and underserved youth and emerging leaders, including those in foster care and/or living in rural areas of the Oklahoma City area. OKAY strives to improve leadership skills through comprehensive training to assist youth and emerging leaders in practicing skills and building confidence through active involvement in youth-led service projects. OKAY also matches mentors to youth with disabilities and provides information to enhance youths’ ability to make successful informed choices, and increase career opportunities and employment outcomes.
Jeanette Doty
jdoty@ou.edu
(405) 325-1055
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Kids as Self Advocates (National-scope)
http://www.fvkasa.org
The Kids As Self Advocates (KASA) project of Family Voices, is a national, grassroots network of youth with disabilities (and our friends), speaking out. We are leaders in our communities, and we help spread helpful, positive information among our peers to increase knowledge around various issues. We also help health care professionals, policymakers and other adults in our communities understand what it is like to live our lives and we participate in discussions about how to help each other succeed. Information and resources are available to youth with disabilities across the U.S., in youth-friendly and accessible language, and is often written and researched by youth for youth.

National Youth Information Center (NYIC) (National-scope)
http://www.nyln.org
The NYIC will be led by youth. The Center incorporates evidence-based approaches for youth-directed leadership development to increase the education, employment, independent living, health and disability awareness, and pride of the next generation of youth and emerging leaders with developmental disabilities and youth with cognitive disabilities. NYIC serves as a national hub of information sharing and exchange, mentorship, and empowerment that energizes youth and emerging leaders to become fully participating members and leaders in society. The National Youth Information Center is a program component of the National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN).

School to Work – Self Advocacy and Mentoring Project
http://www.wpas-rights.org
In partnership with People First of Washington and two pilot school districts, the Washington Protection and Advocacy (P & A) System provides mentoring and training to students with developmental disabilities in transition. The project establishes relationships among high school and middle school students with disabilities and community leaders with disabilities to foster advocacy skills and increase the awareness of rights and responsibilities by transition-aged youth. The Washington P&A System will also pilot information and referral centers program in other school districts.
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