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“All that I learned [with CYVYC] has impacted my way of planning my future and changed my way of thinking. Now that I know how to dive into transition more confidently, I want to spread my knowledge with others…” | - Paola Martinez, Youth Ambassador from Texas | | | | |
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Hello, everyone!
Welcome to ICI’s eleventh edition of the Alternatives to Guardianship (A2G) newsletter. This quarterly newsletter features content from our two projects: Center on Youth Voice, Youth Choice (CYVYC) and Guardianship Alternatives and Transfer-of-Rights (GATOR).
Allison Cohen Hall, Principal Investigator
Center on Youth Voice, Youth Choice
Guardianship Alternatives and Transfer-of-Rights
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Read our quarterly newsletter featuring content from our two projects:
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New Social Media Accounts for Youth | |
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The Institute for Community Inclusion is excited to launch new social media accounts focused on youth advocacy and inclusion! Follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram to connect with other young advocates, access resources, and discover ways to get involved in promoting inclusion. Please join and share with your peers!
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Otto is a youth ambassador from California. He recently started college and created a 3-minute video to introduce himself to his new classmates.
You can watch it here.
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Save the Date – Arizona, California, and Texas Showcases! | |
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The Youth Ambassador training program helps youth become leaders around supported decision-making and other alternatives to guardianship in their states. Please join us to hear from Arizona, California, and Texas youth about the great work they have been doing to create change in their states. For more information, email Allison at: Allison.Hall@umb.edu
- Arizona on January 15, 2025, at 7pm EST (5pm Arizona)
- California on January 28, 2025, at 8pm EST (5pm Pacific)
- Texas on January 21, 2025, at 7pm EST (5pm Central)
Stay tuned for registration information!
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Let Me Do It: A New Supported Decision-Making App | | |
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The LetMeDoIt app was founded by Angad Sahgal, a Georgia Youth Ambassador, and his father. After seeing the need for accessible tools that people with disabilities could use to take ownership of their decisions through the Supported Decision-Making System, they embarked on the journey of launching the first disability-focused decision-making app. Check it out!
Explore or download the LetMeDoIt app.
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Webinar: Supported Decision-Making with Students with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (IDD): What it is and How to Get Started | |
When? Tuesday, December 10, from 4pm–5pm ET
The session’s speakers will include an educational psychologist, a CYVYC Youth Ambassador, and content experts from CYVYC. They will share about supported decision-making for students with IDD.
Register today and spread the word about this session! Certificates of Attendance are available.
In April 2024, CYVYC launched our Speaker Series for Educators Exploring Alternatives to Guardianship for Students with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities. Archived webinar recordings are available for anyone who missed them.
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In September 2024, CYVYC staff Allison Cohen Hall and Morgan Whitlatch presented with leaders of the Georgia State Team, including Dana Lloyd from the Georgia Advocacy Office and youth ambassador Angad Sahgal, at a 3-hour pre-conference at the national Reinventing Quality event in Baltimore, Maryland.
The session was titled “Promoting Alternatives to Guardianship for Youth with IDD: CYVYC Youth in Action,” and it included an interactive discussion about national trends, strategies for inclusive engagement, state action planning, and promising practices identified through CYVYC. Angad shared his recently launched Supported Decision-Making app, Let Me Do It.
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From left to right: Angad Sahgal (Georgia Youth Ambassador), Dana Lloyd (Georgia Advocacy Office), Allison Cohen Hall (CYVYC), and Morgan Whitlatch (The Center for Public Representation). | |
Esther Kamau from CYVYC and Melody Cooper from Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) presented at the 17th International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) conference in Chicago this past summer. Their presentation was titled “Empowering Youth to Advance Alternatives to Guardianship.” They talked to the audience about how the Center’s various activities have benefited youth, the products that have been developed, the Youth Ambassador Curriculum, and the important role of SABE in this work. | |
Photo of Esther Kamau and Melody Cooper delivering a presentation at the 17th International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) conference. | |
Allison Hall, Director of CYVYC and Derek Heard, CYVYC Youth Ambassador from Georgia, were keynote speakers at the Illinois Statewide Transition Conference on November 7. They talked about CYVYC’s work promoting alternatives to guardianship and Derek’s supported decision-making journey. Derek was supported at the conference by his mom Teresa Heard. Teresa participated in the Q&A session. She talked with parents about her own transformation as Derek became a young adult and how she supports his choices, preferences, and personal and professional growth. | |
From left to right: Teresa and Derek Heard at the Illinois Statewide Transition Conference posing in front of a CYVYC presentation slide. | |
Allison Hall poses alongside the Illinois Statewide Transition Conference conference poster. | |
Guardianship Alternatives and Transfer-of-Rights is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education, grant # R324A190114.
Center on Youth Voice, Youth Choice is funded by cooperative agreement # 90DNDM0004, Administration for Community Living (ACL), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
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