Level Up – brought to you by the Ohio Healthy Transitions Project.

Level Up is an outreach initiative by the Ohio Healthy Transitions Project (OHTP) – a SAMHSA funded project to improve access to treatment and support services for youth and young adults ages 16-25 with a serious emotional disturbance (SED), serious mental illness (SMI) or intellectual developmental disability (IDD). Through a five-year grant awarded to Bellefaire JCB and Lifeworks Autism Services, to develop a culturally competent service continuum to bridge the gap between the youth and adult systems in Summit and Medina counties.

What is Level Up?

Find out more about the Level Up initiative from two of the founding members.

Individualized Support

Young people often can’t wait to become adults and enjoy the freedom and independence that come along with making their own decisions. But once the doors of adulthood start to open, things aren’t always as they imagined. Sometimes they need a little assistance along the way.

Geared toward youth and young adults, the Level Up campaign by the Ohio Healthy Transitions Project is designed to raise awareness of and improve access to mental health services and other supports. Once enrolled in the program, youth are paired with a Navigator who works with them to determine what supports they need and where they may need a little help. Extra care is given to ensure youth get a warm hand-off when referred to our community partner agencies, as well as when helping young people transition from youth to adult systems in order to avoid a gap in services.

Who Can Be Referred?

The program is free and open to young people ages 16-25 living in Medina and Summit counties with SED, SMI, or co-occurring mental health and intellectual developmental disabilities

Program Highlights

  • Access to providers who can empower youth to achieve their goals
  • Elimination of barriers to mental health and support services
  • Destigmatizing mental illness and developmental disabilities
  • Increased functioning and capacity to complete activities and improve life outcomes
  • Identifying and normalizing challenges youth and young adults face
  • Key focus on young people’s experiences, resulting in positive outcomes
  • Empowerment to navigate through life’s challenges
  • Trauma informed care and services
  • Youth Voice and Youth Choice