Student Loans, For-Profit Colleges, and Traditional Colleges: Some Things You Should Know Before Borrowing

Many students complete programs at for-profit colleges and launch new careers. However, many other students do not have such successful experiences, ending up without the career they envisioned and/or with large debts they cannot repay. This FAQ is designed to help prospective college students become better informed about student loans, particularly those used to finance education at for-profit institutions

Implementing the Peer Support Specialist Role: Youth Peer Support in Wraparound

This information brief provides an example of how one state has implemented and supported the Peer Support Specialist role for youth with serious mental health conditions. The brief covers aspects of training, coaching, supervision, role definition and financing; and describes a series of challenges and solutions

FAQ: Defining, Supporting, and Sustaining the Peer Support Specialist Role

Pathways RTC, together with staff from the Technical Assistance Partnership and the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, decided to interview agencies that were developing peer support specialist (PSS) roles. The goal was to find out what these agencies were learning about defining, supporting, and sustaining the PSS role. This FAQ summarizes some of the main things that were learned

Emerging Strategies for Engaging Young People in Systems of Care

Systems of care are increasingly serving older youth and young adults up to age 24, and in our research and training work with providers, we hear about the challenges of engaging young people in typical services. Many providers are responding to the unique developmental needs of this population by adapting the design and delivery of their services to better engage and retain young people in system of care supports. Overall, strategies include expansion of drop-in center programming, adaptations to practice models like Wraparound, and new outreach efforts using social media and other technologies. Our purpose here is to share some of these emerging engagement strategies more broadly so that other providers and other stakeholders can benefit from these recent successes and lessons learned

Study Guide: How Youth Partners Can Collaborate with Family Partners in Wraparound

It is our hope that this study guide can be a helpful training, coaching, and conversational tool to help supervisors and staff think through the nuances of this particular working relationship. It can be used when onboarding new staff, when a family partner is working alongside a youth partner for the first time (or vice versa), when addressing challenges that come up, or simply to check in on and refresh staff skills. In addition, it can be used during one-on-one supervision as well as in a group training or coaching session. This tool also may be useful for colleagues who work alongside family partners and youth partners, such as care coordinators, clinicians, case workers, and others

Implementing the Peer Support Specialist Role: Peer Support in a Youth-led Drop-in Center

This information brief gives an overview of Youth MOVE Oregon, an innovator in peer-led services for youth. The role and development of Peer Support Providers is discussed in some detail along with organizational challenges that need to be addressed

Implementing the Peer Support Specialist Role: Providing Direct, Individualized Support in a Local Program

This information brief provides an example of how one locally-initiated program has implemented the Peer Support Specialist role for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions. The brief covers aspects of training, coaching, supervision, role definition and financing; and describes challenges and solutions

Getting the Most Out of Vocational Rehabilitation

Your state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program is an important resource for people with disabilities. VR counselors are available to assist young adults with physical, emotional or mental health challenges to successfully pursue their job or career goals. The purpose of this Tip Sheet is to optimize your VR experience. Your counselor wants to see you succeed and will provide information and support to assist you in exercising informed choice throughout the rehabilitation process as you work towards your employment goal

AMP’s Top Ten Tips for Engaging with Young People

This tip sheet advises service providers and others how to engage successfully with youth, using specific examples to illustrate effective (and ineffective) communication