During a day–long summit facilitated by HRiA and staff from University of Massachusetts Medical School, representatives from multiple disability serving agencies in Delaware met to develop a strategic plan to improve the education and employment outcomes of youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions. The planning session was based on a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis and an internet survey with key informants, including consumers and families of disability services. This session resulted in a 3- to 5-year Inter-Agency Strategic Plan and Tip Sheet, which was recently published in Psychiatry Information in Brief. The tip sheet offers guidance in creating a strategic plan to connect individual state agencies in order to support youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions, as well as their families.

The contents of the report and accompanying tip sheet were developed under a grant with funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR); the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (ACL Grant# 90RT5031, The Learning and Working Transitions RTC). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Participating agencies included the Delaware Divisions of Vocational Rehabilitation; Education and Special Education; Services for Children, Youth, and Families (Division of Child Mental Health Services); Vision Impaired; and Substance Abuse and Mental Health.