Treatment Retention Strategies in Transition Age Youth

The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a critical window for the development of the adult roles that society relies on: productive worker, nurturing parent, and lawabiding citizen. As they move into adulthood, Transition Age Youth (TAY; ages 17-25) with serious mental health conditions often have poor functioning and high rates of homelessness (30%), arrests (60%), school dropout (42%), and unemployment. 1 Among outpatient mental health clients, research shows that TAY are consistently the most likely to drop out of treatment 1 and complete the fewest number of sessions compared to other age groups. 2 These problems present a unique challenge for keeping TAY in