Connecting activities are the services, accommodations, and supports that help youth gain access to and achieve success within chosen postschool options. Postschool options may include postsecondary education, community service, employment, mental and physical health care, access to transportation, access to financial planning advice and management, and participation in leisure or recreational activities, as well as a number of other adult roles.
Most youth use informal sources of support such as family, friends, community education programs, recreation programs, and employers. Other youth, including many youth with disabilities and at-risk youth, may require assistance and support from public and private organizations, agencies, and programs. Federal and state laws require the provision of individualized services to certain youth, including youth with disabilities, youth in the juvenile justice system, homeless youth, and others. For these youth, receiving appropriate assistance requires service coordination, which is a structured, cooperative effort among organizations and agencies to effectively and efficiently provide services to those who qualify for them.
Organizations and agencies each have a mission and focus for their work and may have specified groups they are legally required to serve, or audiences that they seek to serve. In order for youth to access connecting activities, organizations and agencies must work cooperatively and have clarity concerning their own and each others’ responsibilities for providing services.
Below are the specific Connecting Activities standards and indicators. See also Introduction to the National Standards & Quality Indicators
5.1 Organizations coordinating services and supports align their missions, policies, procedures, data, and resources to equitably serve all youth and ensure the provision of a unified flexible array of programs, services, accommodations, and supports.
See Supporting Evidence & Research
5.2 Organizations connect youth to an array of programs, services, accommodations, and supports, based on an individualized planning process.
SeeSupporting Evidence & Research
5.3 Organizations hire and invest in the development of knowledgeable, responsive, and accountable personnel who understand their shared responsibilities to align and provide programs, services, resources, and supports necessary to assist youth in achieving their individual postschool goals.
See Supporting Evidence & Research
Next > Supporting Evidence & Research
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