 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Tiffany Johnson, California Youth Connection, 604 Mission Street, 9th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, 415 442-5060, tiffany@calyouthconn.org
California Youth Connection is an advocacy / youth leadership membership organization for 14-to-24year-old current and former foster youth. Based on their experience in the child welfare system, members work to improve foster care, educate the public and policy makers about their unique needs and work to change the misconceptions many people have about foster youth. We value foster youth as experts with valuable insightful information and ideas on the foster care system and how it can be improved. Mental Health has been identified as a critical concern of foster youth. In 1999, focus groups conducted throughout California provided foster youth a safe environment to share their experiences, concerns and recommendations for policy change in this area. The focus groups were a success. The information from the focus groups was compiled into a report named "Foster Youth Proposals To Improve Mental Health Services". From this report, our members identified several areas where mental health can improve services to transition age foster youth. These include: (1) Re-evaluating the traditional therapy based relationship and restructuring it into a mentoring based relationship (2) developing strategies to educate foster youth and professionals regarding mental health issues. (3) Understanding the trauma experienced from moving from adolescent services to adult services. Youth articulate that the level of attention given to understand their mental health and medication needs is minimal in the adolescent system and often worse when entering the adult system.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Mental Health, Youth Access
Related Web page: www.calyouthconn.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: California Youth Connection, a nonprofit organization.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.