RENEW and Transition
by Kathy Francoeur
RENEW (Resilience, Empowerment, and Natural Supports for Education and Work) is a structured school-to-career transition process for youth who need support in planning for their future. Developed in 1996, RENEW is provided by trained facilitators from schools, community mental health centers, and community-based providers. It has substantially increased the high school completion, employment, and post-secondary education rates amongst our most vulnerable youth. Key features of this planning process include youth voice and choice; use of graphic facilitation to identify dreams and goals; a strength-based approach built on unconditional care; and building personal connections in the school, home, and community.
RENEW includes 1) creating a visual that embraces the youth’s strengths, future vision, barriers, and goals; 2) forming a team to bring needed resources and services to address the needs and goals of the youth; 3) gaining experiences and instruction that will support job skills and independent living; 4) and connecting youth to service providers with to access to employment, health care, housing, and mental health services.
Learn more about RENEW at iod.unh.edu/RENEW.
DRC-NH, in collaboration with the UNH Institute on Disability and the New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, distribute a quarterly RAP sheet to educate community members and policy makers about the latest research, policy, practice, and advocacy issues affecting individuals with disabilities and their families.
