Aguillard Kimberly, Wang Mira
Mathematica Policy Research.
J Rehabil. 2023;89(3):6-17.
Out-of-school youth with disabilities (youth) from minority backgrounds face significant barriers in transitioning to adulthood. Centers for Independent Living (CILs) can offer critical services to this population. This study explored ways that CILs can improve their outreach and programs for youth who come from minority backgrounds. In June 2022, the research team conducted three virtual focus groups, each of which included seven to ten participants who lived in Illinois, New York City, or South Carolina. Two researchers conducted content analysis using inductive coding for each focus group transcript to identify emerging themes. Participants' responses reflected specific themes for CILs to improve their outreach, engagement, and program offerings. Expanding and exploring these themes provides actionable policy and practice recommendations for staff from CILs and other organizations to improve outreach to and engagement of minority youth and support their employment, community participation, and independent living goals.
来自少数族裔背景的残疾失学青年在向成年过渡过程中面临重大障碍。独立生活中心（CILs）可为这一群体提供关键服务。本研究探讨了独立生活中心可通过哪些方式改进针对少数族裔背景青年的宣传推广及项目。2022年6月，研究团队开展了三场虚拟焦点小组讨论，每场讨论有七至十名居住在伊利诺伊州、纽约市或南卡罗来纳州的参与者。两名研究人员对每个焦点小组的文字记录进行归纳编码，开展内容分析，以确定新出现的主题。参与者的回答反映了独立生活中心改进宣传推广、参与度及项目提供方面的具体主题。对这些主题进行拓展和探究，可为独立生活中心及其他组织的工作人员提供可行的政策和实践建议，以改善对少数族裔青年的宣传推广和参与度，并支持他们的就业、社区参与及独立生活目标。
