The High-Risk Young People's Program. A summing up

For over five years, 21 teaching hospitals and 54 community cosponsors provided health services to young people at risk for sociomedical problems, i.e., to young people living in communities characterized by high rates of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, accidents, homicide, suicide, and mental illness. With support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the 20 grantees of the High-Risk Young People's Program developed projects whose collective goal was to expand services to high-risk youth and improve their health. This goal was to be achieved by a direct provision of medical services, training health providers in the care of high-risk youth, consolidating categorical youth services into single, comprehensive care sites, and securing long-term support for these new services and training activities. During the grant period, 114 fellows, 974 residents, 453 medical students, and 126 graduate nurses trained at project sites. Patient visits, which totaled 47,203 the first year, reached 84,754 the second year, and were reported at 89,024 in the fourth year. Sixteen of the 20 projects secured 117 grants worth nearly $7 million. We conclude that the projects were successful in training health care providers and in securing additional support for Program purposes, but were less successful in expanding services beyond the initial pilot for clinical care.