Youth and Young Adults in Transition Links

Informational Web Sites

• Policy Solutions for Low-Income Families: Strengthening Children, Youth and Families
  Families are the bedrock of communities but far too many live in poverty and lack the supports they need to contribute to the economy and ensure their children grow up healthy, secure and prepared to succeed. CLASP advocates for investment in programs that help children, youth and families thrive.
• University of South Florida Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health, System of Care Research web page
• The Ohio Longitudinal Transition Study (OLTS) Spring 2010 Report
  The Ohio Longitudinal Transition Study (OLTS) is designed to do more than simply meet federal reporting requirements. The information from this study is designed to help schools and IEP planners improve post-school outcomes for students with disabilities. See link below for regional and state progress reports.
• The Portland Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health website
  This website offers publications and other products of the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health; various tools for professionals, families and youth.
• Interactive website for researchers with interest in transition age youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions
  By joining you will gain access to researchers all over the country who have a shared interest in transition age youth and young adults with mental health conditions.
• Rutgers University, School of Social Work: Transition for Youth website

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Resource Documents

• U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report on Young Adults With Serious Mental Illness: Some States and Federal Agencies Are Taking Steps to Address Their Transition Challenges
• Got Moods study
  Got Moods study: Michele Munson, Ph.D., Making the Transition, also known locally in Cleveland as the "got moods" study, is a two-year research study examining the supportive relationships, service use transitions and illness experiences of one hundred, 18 to 25 year olds, with histories that include a mood disorder diagnosis, public Medicaid mental health service use and use of at least one additional public service during childhood.
• National League of Cities (NLC), Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute), Helping Municipal Leaders take Action on Behalf of Children, Youth and Families
• Urban Institute: Vulnerable Youth and Transition to Adulthood
  This series examines youth vulnerability and risk-taking behaviors on several outcomes for young adults, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort. Notable results suggest youth follow one of four patterns in connecting to the labor market and school in the transition to adulthood.
• Guide and tool to help Mental Health Peer-Run Programs and Self-Help groups assess and cultivate their Cultural Competency
  The NAMI Support Technical Assistance and Resource (STAR) Center and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) National Research and Training Center created a user-friendly guide and tool to help Mental Health Peer-Run Programs and Self-Help groups assess and cultivate their Cultural Competency. The tool guides users through a step-by-step process to identify strengths and limitations in meeting the needs of diverse program members.
• Guide on Supporting Career Development of Youth with Learning Disabilities
  This Guide by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability For Youth is intended to help practitioners, administrators, and policymakers in secondary and postsecondary education programs, transition programs, One Stop Career Centers, youth employment programs, and community rehabilitation programs to improve services and outcomes for youth, ages 14 to 25, with diagnosed and undiagnosed learning disabilities.

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• Access to Free Healthcare Services
• Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, Youth Empowerment Program
• Local Labor One Stop Locator
• National Center for Homeless Education
• National Network on Youth Transitions for Behavioral Health, University of South Florida
• ODMH Supported Employment Evidence Based Practices Link
• Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission Services for Youth
• Paving the Way for a New Day for Young Adults in Ohio’s Mental Health System
• Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (See Programs links, find Youth Information and System of Care)
• Workforce Investment Act - US Dept of Labor
• Transition to Independence Process (TIP) System
  The TIP model is an evidence based practice that has been developed to assist young people with emotional and/or behavioral difficulties in making a successful transition to adulthood. This model promotes young persons achieving, within their potential, their goals in the transition domains of education, employment, living situation, and community life.
  • Navigating Rough Waters: Practices and Policies for Improving Outcomes with Youth & Young Adults with EBD
  • TIP Definition and Guidelines
  • Policy Recommendations to Promote and Sustain Effective Community Transition Systems
• The Finance Project
  The Finance Project developed a series of resources to provide state and local leaders with information and tools on how to finance and sustain effective programs that support the positive development of youth, and develop systems that provide an infrastructure to help coordinate and guide investments in youth. For more information, please visit the youth programs resource center and clearinghouse.
  • Beyond the Paycheck: A Human Resources Management Guide for Leaders of Small Youth-Serving Organizations (September 2009)
  • Beyond the Award Letter: Fund Management for Leaders of Small Youth-Serving Organizations (September 2009)
  • Beyond the Checkbook: A Financial Management Guide for Leaders of Small Youth-Serving Organizations (January 2009)
• Improving Secondary Education and Transition for Youth with Disabilities: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Implications of Transition Personnel
• Moving On: An Analysis of Federal Programs Funding Services to Assist Transition-Age Youth with Serious Mental Health Conditions
• Portland Research and Training Center, Family Support and Children’s Mental Health, Portland University, Portland Oregon
• Snapshot of Transition Age Youth Served by Public Mental Health Providers in Ohio in State Fiscal Year 2008 

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Information for Youth

• Youth Advocates for Mental Health
  Growing up as a youth with any challenge is difficult but when you are a youth growing up with a mental health challenge it can sometimes feel almost impossible. Youth Advocates for Mental Health is a site where youth can come and talk to other youth about their struggles and understand that they are not alone.
• FindYouthInfo.gov
  U.S. government website that helps you create, maintain, and strengthen effective youth programs. Included are youth facts, funding information, and tools to help you assess community assets, generate maps of local and federal resources, search for evidence-based youth programs, and keep up-to-date on the latest, youth-related news.
• Strength of Us
  Developed by young adults, Strength of Us is a user-driven social networking community where members can connect with peers, share personal stories, creativity and helpful resources by writing and responding to blog entries, engaging in discussion groups and sharing videos, photos and other news.
• Voices4Hope
  A website created by a group of young adults with mental health challenges that work in the Transitions RTC. The goal of this site is to connect young adults with mental health challenges across the country so they can talk to each other about things that are important to living happy and independent lives.
• TUNE
  Youth focused website with music related to recovery with free downloads.
• Ways2Cope
  Have you or a friend ever had a stressful experience that may have been really scary (traumatic) that changed your life? If the answer is yes, then this site is for you. Ways2Cope has information on stress and trauma and on good ways for you and your friends to deal with painful situations.
• What a Difference a Friend Makes
  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Campaign to educate and support 18- 25 year olds with friends experiencing mental illness, and information on Suicide Prevention.
• Money Smart for Young Adults
  The FDIC's Money Smart for Young Adults curriculum helps youth ages 12-20 learn the basics of handling their money and finances.
• Wellness, Management and Recovery
  Personal Wellness, Management and Recovery resources and agencies that promote these concepts.
• Resiliency Ohio
  Resources that promote Resiliency, youth and family insights on Resiliency, and a Resiliency Video
• E-Smart Technology from Case Western Reserve University helps Youth Cope with Mental Illness
• My Mission Transition
  A website sponsored by the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio. It offers tools for youth in foster care to promote successful transition into adulthood.
• Youth MOVE National is a youth led national organization devoted to improving services and system that support positive growth and development by uniting the voices of individuals who have lived experience in various systems including mental health, juvenile justice, education, and child welfare.
• Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarship Program
• Youth Transition Funders Group

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Information for Parents and Families

• Transition Resources for Parents: Transition Planning: A Team Effort
• Transition-Aged Youth Community of Practice
  A resource for children, youth and families, this website was created and is maintained by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) through funding from the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA.
• Teen Screen
  The National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University.
• Portland Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health
  This website offers publications and other products of the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health.
• WraparoundSolutions.com
  Wraparound is a family centered, community-oriented, strengths-based, highly individualized planning process aimed at helping people achieve important outcomes by helping them meet their unmet needs both within and outside of formal human services systems, while they remain in their neighborhoods and homes, whenever possible.
• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
  This website offers resources for parents and caregivers to promote their role in helping children and adolescents recover from their traumatic experiences. Parents/caregivers may feel isolated in their efforts, but they are not alone. Other families have faced similar experiences, and professionals have developed effective ways to help children and families recover from trauma

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Training and Resources

• Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Training Tiers and Modules
• The Lighthouse Youth Services Training Institute
  LYS provides training and technical assistance across the country on independent living program development and a variety of child welfare and runaway and homeless youth (RHY) services topics. LYS is known nationally for pioneering work in the independent living (since 1981) and transitional living (since 1990).

Partner Organizations

• Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio's (COHHIO) Youth Empowerment Program (YEP)
• Ohio Family and Children First present Ohio's Strategic Plan for Youth and Young Adults in Transition
• Foster Care Alumni Association – Ohio Chapter
• Public Children's Services Association of Ohio, Ohio Youth Advisory Board
• The Ohio Federation for Children's Mental Health

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