Predicting Improvement of Transitioning Young People in the Partnerships for Youth Transition Initiative: Findings from a Multisite Demonstration

Prior research has indicated that young people with serious mental health conditions show poorer progress and greater challenges in the transition to adulthood, as reflected by lower rates of employment and postsecondary education, higher rates of criminal justice involvement, and greater interference in daily activities from mental health and substance use disorders. Little knowledge exists, however, regarding improvement on these indicators among young people enrolled in community-based transition support programs and individual characteristics that might moderate this improvement. This study describes rates of improvement on indicators of transition progress and challenges among young people enrolled in a multisite demonstration of transition support programs. Young people in the study showed increased rates of progress and decreased rates of challenges over four quarters of enrollment. Moderation of these changes by individual characteristics including demographic, historical, and diagnostic variables suggested ways of improving transition support programs and avenues for future research.