Community resources for adolescents

The optimal approach to adolescent health care frequently requires that physicians and other health care providers work with community support systems to develop a multidisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic team. Just as the primary care providers must be aware of the capabilities of specialist consultants to whom patients are referred for complicated medical problems, they must also develop a working knowledge of the community services available for the specific needs of adolescents with behavioral and developmental problems. This article provides some practical guidelines toward this goal.