Creating Supports for Transition Age Youth to Achieve Optimal Outcomes through a Provider, County, and Managed Care Partnership

Abstract

Bucks County Behavioral Health, Magellan Health Services, and Access Services partnered in 2013 to improve the services and supports being provided to Transition Age Youth (between the ages 16-26) with behavioral health challenges to improve their health and wellness outcomes. According to the TIP Stars website, this population of young people have higher secondary school dropout rates, higher rates of arrest, incarceration, and unemployment, and lower rates of independent living compared to their peers without disabilities (Clark & Unruh, 2009a; Wagner, Kutash, Duchnowski, Epstein, & Sumi, 2005; Wagner, Newman, Cameto, & Levine, 2005; Vander Stoep, Beresford, Weiss, McKnight, Cauce, & Cohen, 2000; Vander Stoep, Weiss, Kuo, Cheney, & Cohen, 2003). According to the U.S. Department of Education (2011), nearly 45 percent of students with EBD drop out of high school annually which is related to lower wages (Rouse, 2007), lower employment rates (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010), and poorer health (Pleis, Ward, & Lucas, 2010). Through the implementation and adaptation of the evidence supported model Transition to Independence Process (TIP), ™ developed by Dr. Hewitt “Rusty” Clark, services became available in Bucks County to young people to assist them in achieving their goals of independence and stability and improving their outcomes.