Young Adult Access Centers: Driving Innovation for Young Adult Services in Massachusetts

This panel will discuss the history, operation, and evaluation of Young Adult Access Centers Cin Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) will open the panel with an overview of the System of Care efforts for young adults in Massachusetts, including a history of how the Young Adult Access Center Model evolved, an overview of the model, and its three core principles. Next, the director of one of the SAMHSA-funded, DMH-operated Young Adult Access Centers, who is also a former peer mentor and identifies with the communities served by the Access Center, will present her experiences launching and operating the Access Center and serving as a peer mentor role model. This presentation will include a discussion of their mission and vision, characteristics of the young people they serve, and the types of services they provide, as well as the work that the Access Center does in the community and the different partnerships they have created with other community stakeholders. The panel will conclude with a presentation from ForHealth Consulting at UMass Chan Medical School, the local evaluators of the Young Adult Access Centers. The presentation will focus on the characteristics and needs of young people served, number and frequency of services provided, and a description of early outcomes.