Abstract
To increase understanding of the current status of youth involvement in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration-funded system-of-care communities, focus groups with youth and youth coordinators were conducted as part of the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program. Using focus group discussions as the primary qualitative data analysis method, these discussions addressed the ways in which youths are involved in their communities, the role of youth coordinators, the challenges that hinder youth participation, and strategies for overcoming these challenges. Discussions revealed that the most common form of youth involvement is through youth groups, and that apart from these groups, youth participation is largely absent. Key challenges to youth involvement include stigma and lack of support from system-of-care administrators and staff.
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Notes
The eight system-of-care principles are: family focused, individualized, culturally competent, accessible, interagency, collaborative and coordinated, community-based and least restrictive.
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Acknowledgements
Portions of this paper were presented at the 17th Annual Research Conference: A system of care for children’s mental health: Expanding the research base; University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida (March 2004). This work was supported by the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services (Contract numbers: 280-00-8040 & 280-2003-00016). We would like to thank Natalie Henrich for her invaluable part in conceptualizing the initial phase of the study, conducting focus groups, and coding and interpreting the data. We are grateful to LaQuinda Gentry for participating in data coding and analysis. We truly appreciate the help of Marlene Matarese with participant recruitment and the knowledge she brought to the project.
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Gyamfi, P., Keens-Douglas, A. & Medin, E. Youth and Youth Coordinators’ Perspectives on Youth Involvement in Systems of Care. J Behav Health Serv Res 34, 382–394 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-007-9068-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-007-9068-0