Partnering for AYA Health: A Toolkit for Cross-Sector Collaboration is a practical, easy‑to‑use resource for healthcare providers, school administrators, community‑based organizations, and other partners working to better support adolescents and young adults (AYA). It shows how aligning health care, education, social services, and community resources can improve access, coordination, and outcomes for AYA. If you work with AYA, this youth co-designed toolkit is for you. Whether your organization is just beginning to explore systems integration or actively planning improvements, you’ll find clear guidance, inspiration, and actionable strategies in this toolkit.
Systems integration is a powerful way for you to support adolescents and young adults (AYA). By aligning health care, education, social services, and community resources, you can help meet AYA where they are, so they receive the right services at the right time and place. Systems integration is sometimes called “cross-sector collaboration,” “interagency coordination or partnership,” “wraparound services,” or “integrated care.” No matter what the name is, the goal is the same: to work together across organizations so services for young people are better connected, easier to access and navigate, and more effective.
“No Wrong Door” means that whether a young person is visiting a doctor’s office, attending a program at a local library, or connecting with a counselor at school, any staff member in these systems can help connect that young person to additional holistic supports to help them thrive. When designed with and for AYA of all abilities and backgrounds, these spaces are welcoming, trustworthy, and comfortable to AYA, making it more likely that they will access and use available services and supports.
Adolescence and young adulthood are among life’s most dynamic and formative stages, full of growth, exploration, and opportunity. During this time, AYA build identities, form values, and learn to manage relationships and responsibilities, laying the foundation for lifelong health, well-being, and potential.
Yet these years can be very challenging as AYA navigate changes in every aspect of life: physically, cognitively, emotionally, socially, and morally. Too often, the help they need is fragmented and hard to access. Their physical, behavioral, social, and environmental needs are deeply connected, requiring more than isolated solutions or siloed programs.
Adolescence: The Turning Point Where Systems Integration Is Essential for Lifelong Health
Adolescence is a turning point that shapes health for decades. Research shows that strong connections with family and school protect youth well into adulthood, lowering risks of emotional distress, suicidal thoughts, violence, risky sexual behavior, and substance use. Experts like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing agree: no single sector can achieve this alone. Aligning health care, public health, education, and community services—while centering trust and community voices—is essential.
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The Comprehensive Systems Integration for Adolescent and Young Adult Health (HRSA-23-079) project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,500,561 with no funding from non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.
Last Updated
08/10/2026
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics