The transition to adulthood is a challenge for all youth, especially for youth with mental health conditions. Teens and young adults ages 16-24 with serious and persistent mental health needs and their family members often have a hard time accessing appropriate mental health, employment, education, and housing services. This is such an important time to set the foundation for the rest of a person’s life, so it’s especially important to address this issue.
The Harris Transition Coalition is a group of providers, youth, and caregivers working together to improve services for teens and young adults with mental health conditions in Houston. We are all working in partnership to make sure that services and supports in Houston/Harris County are youth-friendly and meet the most pressing needs. We have included youth and caregivers in program planning, design, and implementation because we need their opinions and voices to succeed.
TNOYS is leading coordination of the initiative. Our role includes providing training, technical assistance, and consultation to eight service providers in Houston: Communities in Schools of Houston; Family Houston; Star of Hope Mission; Easter Seals of Greater Houston; Baylor College of Medicine; Disability Rights Texas; City of Houston Health and Human Services; and HCPS/HAY Center. We have guidance and support from local Houston-based experts such as DePelchin Children’s Center’s Program Development, Evaluation, and Quality Improvement team, as well as national expert Dr. Marc Fagan with the Transition to Independence Model. The initiative is funded by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.
KEY RESOURCE
Youth Engagement Toolkit
Youth engagement is a strategy to value and include the insights of youth in service planning and delivery. Often youth and their families know best what they need and how to make services work for them. Check out our online toolkit, which has all the information you need to start engaging youth at your own agency.
MAP OF HARRIS TRANSITION COALITION PROVIDERS
(Click on the map to see where each provider is located)
HELPFUL LINKS
Your Rights Your Voice: A guide for youth with mental health concerns transitioning to adulthood
TAYF Literature Review Series (2014)
How Youth Get Engaged (Dawes, 2011)
Consumer participation in a youth mental health service (Monson, 2011)
How Teens Become Engaged (Dawes, 2006)
Investigating the Relationship Between Services and Outcomes (Koroloff, 2008)
Predicting Improvement of Transitioning Young People (Haber, 2008)
Transition to Adult Roles (Karpur, 2005)
What a Difference Family-Driven Makes (Slaton, 2012)
http://www.pathwaysrtc.pdx.edu/
http://www.youthempoweredsolutions.org/