Become a Youth Peer Advocate (YPA)

Are you a young person who is between the ages of 18 and 30 years old with first-hand experience with mental health, special education, or foster care services? Are you curious about ways you could help a younger person who is facing some of the same challenges you faced?

If so, consider becoming a Youth Peer Advocate (YPA). Learn more about how you can use your own experience with recovery to make a positive impact in another young person’s life.

Children and Family Treatment and Support Services

The NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) designed Children and Family Treatment Support (CFTSS) brochures, fact sheets, posters and FAQs in multiple languages. CFTSS provides mental health and/or substance abuse services in NYS Medicaid for children ages birth to 21. Services can be provided at home, in the community, or wherever children/youth and their families feel comfortable.

Clubhouses for Teens and Young Adults Battling Addiction

Clubhouses provide a restorative, non-clinical environment for young people whose lives have been disrupted by addiction to connect with others in recovery. Clubhouses are built on a core of peer-driven supports and services that help young people progress in their recovery, by encouraging a drug-free lifestyle.

Clubhouses for Youth cater to ages 12 to 17. Clubhouses for Young Adults cater to ages 18 to 21. 

How to Get a Good Start on the Outside

This guide provides helpful tips and contact information for various services for people that have recently been released from prison and are transitioning back into society.

Parent Guides on Social and Emotional Development

The NYS Office of Mental Health developed a set of parent guides to help parents better understand their child's social emotional development from ages 1 - 18. These guides provide information on what to expect, what you can do, when to be concerned and how to get help.

Technical Assistance Partnerships (TAP)

A Special Education Technical Assistance Partnership, or TAP, is a funded contract located within an institute of higher education that serves two primary purposes: provide tools and resources for families and professionals, as well as provide direct support to the professionals within the OSE Educational Partnership. The five TAPs include Data, Transition, Behavior, Academics, and Equity.