Harnessing the Power of Community Conversations to Expand Opportunities for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

2017

Jennifer Neugart
[email protected]
608-266-8778

Community conversations are an effective way to foster positive transition outcomes for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A community conversation is an event planned to bring people from a variety of stakeholder groups together in the same place at the same time. Community conversations can also be held with minimal financial commitment, making them both a time- and cost-effective strategy to build relationships with a relatively large and diverse group of community members. Community conversations can serve as a catalyst to break down barriers by creating a low-pressure situation in a neutral setting. Last, these events provide a platform for informal networking. For these reasons, the utilization of community conversations is emerging as a promising practice to foster meaningful collaboration among transition partners. This article describes how three states (WI, CA, TN) have effectively used this strategy to improve employment outcomes.

disability, policy, inclusion, communities/community, employment

Peer-reviewed publications in scholarly journals submitted

Professionals, Policymakers

N/A