Among the one in four young people who experience mental ill-health, those who seek help and access mental health services, there is no single pathway through these care settings and each experience is different. These pathways can include transitions between one mental health care service to another.

These service transitions disrupt care and can lead to disengagement. Service transitions involve a young person moving from this known care environment to a situation which may be unknown. This can lessen attachment to care and lead to disengagement from care.

Despite this risk, young people often do not feel supported through service transitions. This presentation will outline the evidence on what mental health services can do to minimise the risk that a young person will disengage from care. The key focuses of this presentation will be:
- Enshrining a youth-centred approach to transitions in care through early preparation, information sharing, relationship building and parallel care.
- Helping young people to access transition supports. While GPs are the primary link between care providers, young people are more likely than other cohorts to not have an existing relationship with a GP. As such, mental health services should be prepared to connect young people with other transition supports, such as peers, youth workers, or social workers.
- Developing local service networks. As far as possible, if service providers are closely connected, it supports the ongoing monitoring of care, simplifies handovers and increases the likelihood that a young person will remain engaged with care.