Young Adult Leadership Academy
(YALC)

 Young People

Speaking Out for Young People!

The Young Adult Leadership Commission is working to improve mental health services for youth in transition.

WHY IS THE YALC NEEDED?

The Young Adult Leadership Commission (YALC) is a group of young people between the ages of 16 to 25 who reside in the Northeast Area of Massachusetts. The group is sponsored by the Northeast Area Department of Mental Health.

The need for a youth commission grew out of concern for young people who leave the adolescent public mental health system and do not transition well into adulthood. Some of these young people have the misfortune of falling through the cracks and are more likely to face problems such as crime, homelessness, early pregnancy, and other troubles.

The YALC intends to broaden youth voice regarding quality of mental health services by interviewing their peers with surveys and presenting the gathered information to their peers and concerned stakeholders.

What Young People Are Saying

Young Adult Leadership Commission members took part in a focus group. They raised issues such as:

• Therapists, case workers, and counselors should be excellent communicators, trustworthy, respectful, assertive when necessary, and available. Also, they should not stop working with a young person based on the youth reaching a certain age.
• 
  Doctors should give proper information on medications and side effects. Too often, they do not.
• There should be more help for young adults to obtain housing.
• 
  Some young adults do not want to be in group programs, such as club houses and day treatment programs with other adults.

Past Activities of the YALC:

Leadership Training: Involvement in a 4-day, 3-night Massachusetts Leadership Academy retreat.

Public Speaking Training: Participation in a workshop by the Portia Group, an organization that instructs professionals worldwide on communication.

Research: Trainings by CQI Inc. on research; one on one survey interviews with peers

Policy Work: Commission representation on the Northeast Area DMH Transition Age Steering Committee.

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Mission Statement

The YALC's mission is to inform DMH policymakers about the state of mental health services and what can be done to improve them.

Our purpose is to change the mental health system to better support youth in their transition to adulthood.

The integration of the "youth voice" within mental health services is critical to effectively deal with transition age issues.

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The Young Adult Leadership Commission
thanks MPOWER & The Northeast Area Department of Mental Health
for their support.

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Young Adult Leadership Commission

Jessel-Paul Smith
98 Magazine Street
Roxbury, MA 02119

Phone: 617-442-4111
Toll Free: 877-769-7693
Fax: 617-442-4005
E-mail: jessel@m-power.org