Abbott Leadership Institute, Rutgers University-Newark

Youth with disabilities make up 16.6% of students enrolled in the Newark Public Schools and 10% of students enrolled in city charter schools, but they are underrepresented in the city’s precollege and career pathway programs. The Newark Redefining Access Collaborative (NRAC) is improving the health, well-being, and post-secondary transition of youth with disabilities in Newark, through the formation of a multipartner collaborative committed to building the capacity of precollege and career pathways programs to be inclusive, accessible, and engaging for all youth within our community.

The Collaborative will (1) establish a citywide commitment to inclusion and a shared agenda for increasing the number of high-quality seats in precollege and career pathway programs for youth with disabilities; (2) identify social, programmatic, physical, attitudinal, and systemic barriers to the participation of youth with disabilities in precollege and career pathway programs in Newark and successful transition into post-secondary placements; (3) form working groups inclusive of NRAC partners, parents, youth and adults with disabilities, college and career pathway program providers, educators, disability support service providers, and community champions to develop solutions to identified barriers, and (4) establish the PreCollege Inclusion and Accessibility Learning Community to provide ongoing capacity building and training through professional development and resource identification to sustain an inclusive and healthy community for our city’s youth.

As a result of this work, providers will be equipped and empowered to provide adequate support based on the needs of all youth who attend their program, so that every child can successfully participate.