California’s Youth Leadership Forum
Eddie
Rea remembers what it was like to get up in front of his high school class and
read. Eddie, who is dyslexic, was the butt of teasing by classmates. But his
learning disability didn’t keep him from participating in school activities and
demonstrating the qualities that made him a candidate for the California Youth
Leadership Forum (YLF), a unique summer program for students with disabilities.
Since its inception in
1992, YLF has given Eddie and more than 900 alumni with learning and physical
disabilities the encouragement and the resources they need to make the
transition from school to the next phase of their lives — be it work or higher
education — and to live independently.
The intensive, five-day
program was “an eye-opener” for Eddie, now 20. He says he learned that all
students with disabilities “are part of the same community, whether their
disabilities are hidden like mine or physical.” Eddie attended YLF the summer
after graduating from Sanger High School in Fresno County, went on to study
business at Reedley College, and currently sits on the California Advisory
Commission on Special Education.
YLF’s annual forum at
California State University, Sacramento, is open to high school juniors and
seniors who demonstrate leadership potential and whose resumés include both
academic achievement and participation in extra-curricular activities. Each
year the California Department of Education sends applications to every high
school in California, and YLF alumni and independent living centers throughout
the state recruit applicants. Finalists are interviewed in person; about 60
students are selected. YLF is funded by private and corporate contributions.
The formal part of the
program covers such topics as “Choosing a Career,” “Understanding the History
of Disability as a Culture,” and learning to manage health care issues. The
students identify obstacles to their personal and professional success and
develop plans to deal with them. They also develop public policy
recommendations that address the needs of individuals with disabilities, and
they formally present their recommendations to state officials. But it is often
the informal interaction that students recall — interaction with
their peers and with the speakers and staff, many of whom are successful adults
with disabilities.
“YLF was a life-changing
experience for me,” says Christina Mills who, like many participants, had been
mainstreamed and had little contact with other youths with disabilities. “I
found my own culture and felt completely accepted.” Christina was born with
osteogenisis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break
easily, and she uses a wheelchair. But the disability hasn’t slowed her down.
After attending YLF in 1995 when she was a high school junior, she attended Palomar
Community College and California State University San Marcos. Today, at 30, she
is the statewide community organizer at the California Foundation for
Independent Living Centers. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I hadn’t gone to YLF,”
she says.
The forum was initially
organized and staffed by the Governor’s Committee on the Employment of People
with Disabilities. It was the first of its kind in the country and has been the
model for similar programs in more than 30 states. Today it
is run by a committee of representatives of several state agencies, nonprofit
organizations, and YLF alumni. Catherine Campisi has been there from the
beginning — as a counselor the first year, later as a speaker, and
then as a member of the planning committee. Former
director of the state Department of Rehabilitation and current specialist in
the Disabled Students Programs and Services division of the California
Community Colleges Systems Office, Campisi says that some students “have a
sense of shame” about their disability. YLF “raises their self-esteem
tremendously. They connect with one another, and when they leave, many say ‘I
know who I am; this is my family.’”
That is the goal, says Teresa Favuzzi, executive
director of the Foundation for Independent Living Centers: “to bring youths
across all types of disabilities together so they understand they’re part
of a larger community. It’s wonderful to see that happen.”
It happened for Shannon Rossall, who graduated
this spring from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in child and adolescent
studies. Shannon has attention deficit disorder and some learning disabilities,
including difficulty with auditory processing. Always mainstreamed, she had no
exposure to the disability culture until she attended YLF in 2003. “I had the
opportunity to see the fact that I am a person with a disability, but I shouldn’t
have to hide that. It’s part of who I am.” Shannon, 22, has been back to YLF as
a staff member every year and plans to return to college in the fall for a
teaching credential.
Like Shannon, many YLF alumni are graduates of
colleges and universities — including
UCLA and Stanford. They have successful careers and lead independent lives.
While no statistics have been compiled, Campisi says that “about half or more”
of the participants attend community colleges. The largest disability group in
the community college system is the learning disabled. The colleges aren’t
aware of which students are YLF alumni, but, “with appropriate intervention and
support, the learning disabled are virtually indistinguishable from other
students,” says Scott Berenson, coordinator of Disabled Students Programs and
Services at the California Community Colleges Systems Office.
Providing that intervention and support for
young people with a broad spectrum of disabilities is what YLF is about. In
addition to the information offered during the five-day forum, students learn
how they may be eligible to participate in subsequent internships or mentoring
programs.
Learning more about past participants and their
post-YLF lives is one of the projects of the recently formed YLF Alumni
Alliance. With approximately 100 current members, the alliance is using
Internet sites like Facebook and MySpace to track other alumni and plans to
hold mini-reunions around the state. The alliance is also looking to take an
increased role in planning and presenting the forum. Its stated goal is to
chair YLF in 2009 with support from state agencies. The
alliance was founded by Christina Mills, Eddie Rea, and Cynthia Cadet, a 1998
YLF participant. “The program changed our lives,” says Eddie, “so we
wanted to get this going.”
The program also gave Cynthia, 27, a personal
goal. Students and volunteer staff stay in campus dormitories during the forum
at Cal State Sacramento. “I went as a delegate, and I thought, ‘This is where I
want to be,’” she remembers. Now, after graduating from Grossmont Community
College, Cynthia, who was diagnosed with arthritis and lupus when she was 12
years old, will reach her goal. She will attend Sac State in the fall.