Are you interested in learning what resources federal, state, and local groups offer to help youth successfully transition to adulthood and independence?  Would you like to network with others like you who are working on this topic – without leaving your desk?  Do you want to better understand the range of supports that are available to transition-age youth – from workforce development, to behavioral and physical health, to housing, and more? 

The Solutions Desk/Helping Youth Transition is here and has critical resources to help you in your work with youth.

What does the Solutions Desk have to offer?

• Community of Practice. The Community of Practice focuses on building strong local, state, and federal collaborations to help youth who experience challenges in transitioning to adulthood.  Information is shared through monthly webinars on topics relevant to state and local organizations working to help transition-age youth.  This resource is open to any partnership or organization seeking to participate in discussion about the needs of transition age youth and strategies to work across systems to meet those needs
• Website of Resources. The Solutions Desk website offers resources to help collaborations support transition-age youth.  The website also contains sample documents, forms, and reports prepared by other youth collaborative, and links to other great web sites.  You can also visit the Solutions Desk web site to join the Community of Practice, find out about future webinars, and view helpful resources on transition-age youth.

Join the Community!

The Helping Youth Transition Community of Practice webinars take place on the third Wednesday of every month at 2:30 P.M. (ET).  To learn about upcoming webinars, join the Solutions Desk community at http://www.solutionsdesk.ou.edu/component/contact/36/2.html.  Webinar invitations and call-in information is sent to members through the Solutions Desk LISTSERV.

In February, the webinar will focus on education issues surrounding transition age youth.  Register here.

Check out past webinars

Are you interested in reviewing materials from past webinars hosted by the Helping Youth Transition Community of Pracice?  Go to http://www.solutionsdesk.ou.edu/community-of-practice.html to see resources on

• Mental health of transition-age youth in the U.S., and state partnerships with integrated mental health services and supports
• Successful practices for outreach and recruitment of transition-age youth to programs
• Employment: Striving to prepare our future workfroce
• Youth focused resources from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• And more.

These resources are supported by a partnership of Federal agencies – the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs – that support youth programs and services, including

• U.S. Department of Agriculture;
• U.S. Department of Commerce;
• U.S. Department of Defense;
• U.S. Department of Education;
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Chair);
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
• U.S. Department of Justice (Vice-Chair);
• U.S. Department of Labor;
• U.S. Department of the Interior;
• U.S. Department of Transportation;
• Corporation for National and Community Service; and
• Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The Solutions Desk is made available through a partnership between the Children’s Bureau in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs.