Follow-up

After linking youth to resources and supports it is very important to follow-up to make sure the youth is engaged with the linkages and supports.

Some of the reasons services and supports do not work:

• Youth or family not always ready to receive services, personal factors related to mental and cognitive functioning of individual or family
• No service available within a reasonable distance, dropped services
• Practical factors such as insurance, cost, transport, child care, eligibility rules or program scheduling
• Cultural factors such as language, citizenship and status
• Negative experience/bad rapport with provider
• Stigma and labeling
• Lack of cultural competency

To improve engaging youth and following-up, we need:

• Understand the limitations youth/young adults face when they access services both in and out of the school environment
• Raising awareness of the barriers youth/young adults face when linked to services.
  • Cultural Competency
  • Insurance
  • Negative relationship with provider of service
  • Transportation
• Basic knowledge of levels of care for mental health and substance abuse services in the linkage guide can assist in linking them with other services/supports
• Need for revision of linkage if the initial link was unsuccessful
• Helping youth/young adults and their caregivers develop alternative plans
• Why linking supports and services do not always work
  • No service available within a reasonable distance
  • Dropped services
  • Bad rapport with provider/negative experience
  • Insurance/cost barriers
  • Stigma
  • Lack of cultural competency
  • Lack of readiness for youth and/or their guardians