Comprehensive systems integration for adolescent and young adult health - according to the 2021 adolescent behaviors and experiences survey, 37% of US high school students reported poor mental…

Comprehensive systems integration for adolescent and young adult health - according to the 2021 adolescent behaviors and experiences survey, 37% of US high school students reported poor mental health during the covid-19 pandemic. Although rates of adolescent and young adult (AYA) mental health concerns have been rising for decades, the interruptions in formal and informal supports from schools and community institutions during the pandemic contributed to social isolation, family conflict, and economic turmoil. Cross-sector collaborations are needed to meet the varied and unique needs of AYA. In the CSI-ayah program, the national coordinating committee (NCC), led by the american academy of pediatrics (AAP) in partnership with the association of state and territorial health officials (astho), national alliance to advance adolescent health/got transition (NA), national association of school nurses (nasn), national council on mental wellbeing (ncmw), y-USA, and youth move (motivating others through voices of experience) national (YMN) will work to better integrate systems of care (SOC) that serve AYA. The NCC will 1) establish a cross-sector alliance comprised of nationally recognized partners in health, school, and community systems that will collectively provide national leadership; 2) support the alliance to develop and disseminate a national blueprint to improve AYA health and well-being through systems integration in states, territories, and tribal organizations; 3) provide targeted technical assistance (TA) to 3 learning collaboratives comprised of leadership teams of at least 3 states, territories, and/or tribal organizations working to implement cross-sector systems integration models; 4) deliver and track universal TA to build the capacity of title v agencies that have selected performance measures related to improving AYA health and/or behavioral health; and 5) deliver and track training and TA to increase the number of state, territory, and tribal organizations to improve implementation of systems integration m odels to improve youth health and well-being. The proposed CSI-ayah will explicitly focus on fostering health equity. The NCC brings decades of experience supporting diverse AYA populations, improving systems and services that care for them, and providing TA, training, and education to diverse stakeholders to promote the health and well-being of AYA. The NCC partners not only have the expertise, knowledge, and infrastructure to successfully support states, territories, and tribal organizations to integrate SOC to promote AYA health and wellbeing, but they also will intentionally engage AYA and families in program design and implementation to ensure a successful program.