Learn More About Transitions ACR
Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research is a research center within the Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC) focused on youth and young adults (ages 14 to 30) with serious mental health conditions. Our goal is to improve and support youth & young adults as students, learners, and workers.
This is a very large population with strikingly poor outcomes. For both students and young workers, a serious mental health condition is a major barrier to success. Research has documented that these young adults have serious struggles in both school and work, often more than other disability groups. Additionally, the movement from adolescence to mature adulthood for young people with serious mental health conditions is made more difficult because it spans the ages that the two separate child and adult service systems address. The transition to adulthood is a critical life stage when the learning that occurs, both in school and in the larger world, lays an important foundation for individuals’ future work life.
We explore better ways to support this population and improve their outcomes in education, employment, and community engagement. We promote full participation in socially valued roles for this population and utilize Participatory Action Research to do this. The Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research houses The Learning & Working During the Transition to Adulthood Rehabilitation Research & Training Center (The Learning & Working RRTC), and The Center for Community Inclusion and Reflective Collaborative (The CIRC Center), along with several other projects.
UMass Chan Medical School is located in Worcester, MA, and has a strong commitment to promoting research, knowledge translation, and dissemination. UMass Chan is the Commonwealth’s first and only public academic health sciences center. Its mission is to advance the health and wellness of our diverse communities throughout Massachusetts and across the world by leading and innovating in education, research, healthcare delivery, and public service. UMass Chan is one of the nation’s top 50 medical schools and is firmly committed to providing full access to individuals with disabilities. UMass Chan complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office guidelines, and Human Resources policies.
UMass Chan Department of Psychiatry
With its leading clinical services, research, and education programs, the UMass Chan Department of Psychiatry is combating mental illness and addiction on a regional, national, and global scale. The UMass Chan Department of Psychiatry is guiding the development of progressive public health policies; providing state-of-the-art, recovery-driven patient care; fostering innovation through research; training students and practitioners, and building community engagement to enhance the mental health of citizens in Massachusetts and beyond.
The Implementation Science & Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC) is a research center within the UMass Chan Department of Psychiatry. For 30 years iSPARC has been Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Research Center of Excellence. Funded by MA DMH, private foundations, federal, and industry sources, iSPARC faculty and staff are a multidisciplinary group, representing psychiatry, sociology, clinical and research psychology, rehabilitation, statistics, social work, and the law, with a long track record of conducting public sector mental health services research, knowledge translation, and dissemination activities.
