AHRQ Innovations Exchange | School-Based Transition Program Connects High-Risk Adolescents to Mental Health and Support Services, Leading to Improved Academic and Familial Functioning

School-Based Transition Program Connects High-Risk Adolescents to Mental Health and Support Services, Leading to Improved Academic and Familial Functioning

Snapshot
Summary
Brookline High School and the Brookline Community Mental Health Center implemented the Brookline Resilient Youth Team (BRYT) to help 14- to 18-year-olds (and their families) who have recently experienced serious emotional disorders, medical issues, substance abuse, or other issues. BRYT provides clinical support, case management, and academic assistance to these vulnerable adolescents, helping to reintegrate them into school life. The cornerstone of the program is a team of two school-based clinical coordinators and a classroom aide who work closely with students and their families during the crisis period and a 12- to 18-week transitional program that is offered free of charge. Although BRYT has not yet been formally evaluated, the vast majority of those adolescents served have continued their schooling without disruption. Data suggest improvements in academic and familial functioning.

Evidence Rating
Moderate: The evidence consists of a comparison of post-implementation relapse rates among participants to a sample taken from the larger community, pre- and post-implementation measures of academic functioning, and anecdotal reports of improved family functioning.

Developing Organizations
Brookline Community Mental Health Center; Brookline High School

Patient Population
Age > Adolescent (13-18 years); Geographic Location > City; Vulnerable Populations > Children; Medically or socially complex; Mentally ill; Substance abusers


What They Did
Problem Addressed
Many adolescents experience serious emotional disorders, medical issues, or other hardships that require them to be absent from school and disrupt their lives. Returning to school after such events can be very difficult, and the risk of relapse is quite high.

A common problem: Each year, 1 in 10 adolescents has a serious emotional disorder that often results in a psychiatric hospitalization or prolonged absence from school. These disorders typically disrupt the adolescent's schooling, home life, and social supports. In Brookline, MA, an urban community with great economic and cultural diversity, about 6 percent of high school students were thought to be in need of an intervention due to psychiatric hospitalization, substance abuse treatment, a serious medical event, or incarceration.1

Difficult to return to school: Returning to school after being hospitalized or otherwise dealing with these kinds of problems can be quite difficult. Faced with problems such as depression, anxiety, trouble concentrating, fear of relapse, and social rejection, these adolescents are at high risk of academic failure and social isolation. Their families also face hardships in trying to navigate the maze of medical, mental health, and substance abuse services that are needed to help the adolescent. The complex needs of these students overwhelm most public high school staff.

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AHRQ Innovations Exchange | School-Based Transition Program Connects High-Risk Adolescents to Mental Health and Support Services, Leading to Improved Academic and Familial Functioning