Department of Human Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEAS: June 3, 2005

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Barb Rohrbach, 1 (800) 224-5336

YOUTH LEADERSHIP FORUM FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

            Pierre, SD -- The seventh annual Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities (YLF) will be held June 5-9, 2005, on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. 

            The Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities is a unique career leadership-training program for high school juniors and seniors with disabilities to serve as delegates from their communities. 

            The chosen delegates will cultivate leadership, citizenship, and social skills because of participation in this event. These young South Dakotans are chosen through a statewide competition that seeks students with disabilities who have leadership potential. Each applicant submits a standard form, an essay, and letters of recommendation. The delegates selected are representative of the state in terms of geography, gender, economic status, ethnicity, and types of disabilities. 

            The Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities is sponsored by the following: the Board of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Board of Service to the Blind and Visually Impaired, the South Dakota Transition Services Liaison Project, the Department of Human Services, the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, the South Dakota Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities and other sponsors and organizations throughout South Dakota. 

            For more information contact Barb Rohrbach at 1(800) 224-5336 or visit on-line at: http://www.state.sd.us/dhs/drs/ylf.htm.

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