The focus of the initiative is to enhance resources and supports to transition-age youth and families (TAYF) through their active participation in program development and provision of ongoing services. Grantees are responsible for increasing TAYF voice and choice in designing programs to meet the needs of this unique population. Grantees also partner with one another and additional service providers in the Houston area in an effort to build coordinated TAYF-guided services and support systems.

The Hogg foundation awarded grants totaling roughly $10 million to identify and address the mental health needs of transition-age youth and their families in the Houston/Harris County area.

During the first phase, eight organizations received six-month planning grants to engage TAYF in a strategic learning process around creating effective mental health services and supports. For the second phase, these same eight organizations were awarded grant funds to fully implement needed services and supports that were identified and recommended by TAYF.

Background

Young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 go through significant changes in their development as they transition into adulthood. Their decisions during this period can have a dramatic effect on the rest of their lives, affecting their employment and future careers, their living situations, their education and their health.

During the transition period, as youths transition to the adult mental health service system, they often drop out of services and their mental health needs go unaddressed. This vulnerable population, an estimated 3 million young adults who live with serious mental health conditions, are at greater risk for involvement in the juvenile justice and foster care systems. They also often experience challenges in education such as disciplinary referrals and dropping out of school.

With this in mind, the foundation, interested in identifying and addressing the needs of transition-age youths and families (TAYF), funded a six-month planning period for the eight grantees. During the planning phase the grantees met with TAYF and service providers to develop an implementation plan to provide TAYF services based on their input and involvement. All eight plans were accepted, and the grantees received grant funds to implement services over four-years to Houston TAYF.

The planning phase of the initiative included training in the Transition to Independence (TIP) model, an evidence-supported system developed to help prepare youths and young adults with emotional and/or behavioral difficulties for their movement into adult roles. The TAYF grantees are not required to be certified by the National Network on Youth Transition (NNYT) for Behavioral Health, which is the organization that oversees training and certification in the TIP model, but the values of the model are shared by the initiative and are consonant with the Hogg Foundation’s commitment to incorporating the voices of consumers and families into everything the foundation does.

Questions: Contact Vicky Coffee, Program Manager