Federal Resources

This resource for adults and youth provides employment, training, and financial assistance for laid-off workers. It includes resources for getting immediate help with unemployment insurance, healthcare, and other financial needs; job searching and resume tips; changing careers and understanding transferable skills; and upgrading skills through education and training. It also provides career information and links to work-related services that help veterans and military service members successfully transition to civilian careers.

Provides an overview of programs funded by the Department of Labor focusing on youth. Offers a bi-weekly newsletter, announcements and potential funding opportunities, information for state and local partners, as well as information on the Federal Shared Youth Vision Partnership a collaborative effort serving the neediest youth.

The Employment and Training Administration site provides information about summer youth jobs, the Workforce Investment Act, and other employment and training programs related to youth .

This tool from the CareerOneStop center provides opportunities for students to explore what their interests are, learn about potential careers, learn how to get job experience, and find educational opportunities to support career development.

The Guideposts for Success are a framework to assist the multiple organizations that need to be involved to meet the needs and improve the transition outcomes of all youth, including youth with disabilities. The guideposts discuss school-based services, career preparation, leadership opportunities, community services, and family involvement supports for youth with mental health needs. These documents were developed by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability, which is supported by funds from the Department of Labor.

Job Corps is the nation's largest career technical training and education program for students ages 16 through 24.

This resource for adults and youth helps laid-off workers and other career changers find new occupations to explore. Users can identify occupations that require skills and knowledge similar to their current or previous job, learn more about these suggested matches, locate local training programs, and/or apply for jobs.

NCWD/Youth is your source for information about employment and youth with disabilities. Our partners - experts in disability, education, employment, and workforce development - strive to ensure you will be provided with the highest quality, most relevant information available.

Registered Apprenticeship provides young workers with structured, on-the-job training in industries like construction, manufacturing, health care, information technology, energy, telecommunications, and more. Read success stories of people who have participated with Registered Apprenticeship and learn how it could benefit you.

The Department of Labor's Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) Program targets court-involved youth, young adults, and adult ex-offenders through a variety of discretionary grant awards. Organizations partner with juvenile and adult justice systems to assist in providing employment and training to this population of individuals who may find it difficult to obtain employment or training without additional assistance. Projects support a comprehensive strategy for serving youth in a local area to which many are returning from juvenile correctional or detention facilities. Both the adult and youthful offender grants serve as demonstration projects for improving communities with high rates of crime and poverty.

This guide provides practical information and resources for youth service professionals. In addition, it provides policymakers, from the program to the state level, with information to help them address system and policy obstacles in order to improve service delivery systems for youth with mental health needs.

This resource from the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration provides teens, educators, parents, and employers with information on young worker issues. Details about workers' rights and links to training and other educational tools, including state youth employment laws, may also be found on this site.

Youthbuild provides an alternative education pathway that encourages youth to obtain a high school diploma or GED, while advancing toward employment while developing leadership skills and serving the community.

This webpage, developed by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability, provides multiple resources on the mental health needs of youth, especially as they relate to employment. Youth service practitioners can use this information to better understand the needs of youth, and policymakers can utilize it in their work to address system and policy obstacles and improve service delivery systems for youth with mental health needs. 

The Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) addresses a variety of policy-relevant issues related to the health and development of children, youth, and families. It does so by convening experts to weigh in on matters from the perspective of the behavioral, social, and health sciences.

Mental health and substance use disorders among children, youth, and young adults are major threats to the health and well-being of younger populations which often carryover into adulthood. The costs of treatment for mental health and addictive disorders, which create an enormous burden on the affected individuals, their families, and society, have stimulated increasing interest in prevention practices that can impede the onset or reduce the severity of the disorders. Prevention practices have emerged in a variety of settings, including programs for selected at-risk populations (such as children and youth in the child welfare system), school-based interventions, interventions in primary care settings, and community services designed to address a broad array of mental health needs and populations. Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People updates a 1994 Institute of Medicine book, Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders, focusing special attention on the research base and program experience with younger populations that have emerged since that time.