Development and Psychometric Testing of the Transition Service Provider Competency Scale

Youth in the transition years (ages 14 to 25) with mental health needs experience poor outcomes in terms of high school completion, access to post-secondary education, employment, criminal justice system involvement, homelessness, and unplanned pregnancy compared to other young people with disabling conditions. Poor outcomes have been associated with lack of access to needed services, poor quality and developmentally inappropriate programming, and underprepared service providers. While program quality is affected by many factors, well-trained service providers are believed to be essential for quality services.This paper reports on the identification of a set of core competencies for service providers working with youth with mental health needs in the transition years and the development and psychometric testing of the Transition Service Provider Competency Scale (TSPCS), a 15-item self-report instrument.