American Indian Rural Youth Apprenticeship Development Project (AI-RYAD) - The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) proposes The American Indian Rural Youth Apprenticeship Development Project (AI-RYAD), in partnership with the Institute for New England Native American Studies at UMB and the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Training and Technical Assistance Center at Northern Arizona University, to promote the development of pre-apprenticeships programs for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) youth with disabilities served by American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) in underserved rural communities. The goal of this project, under the development domain, is to support AIVRS projects in creating pre-apprenticeship programs for AIAN youth with disabilities and ultimately advance employment and economic opportunities in underserved rural tribal communities through the following four objectives: I. Developing an AI-RYAD Pre-Apprenticeship Implementation Framework that outlines culturally appropriate and responsive approaches and best practices for AIVRS to establish pre-apprenticeship pathways for tribal youth with disabilities. II. Creating an AI-RYAD toolkit to assist AIVRS projects in applying the framework in alignment with their traditional and cultural values. The toolkit will include mentorship implementation guides, customized pre-apprenticeship planning templates, training materials for community partners, and a comprehensive repository of additional resources. III. Establishing an AI-RYAD Learning Collaborative and Advisory Council to promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing to inform product development and foster partnerships within, outside, and across tribal communities. IV. Evaluating the effectiveness, cultural responsiveness, and usability of the AI-RYAD Pre-Apprenticeship Implementation Framework and Toolkit by conducting an implementation process evaluation and collecting feedback from AIVRS.
