CiYouthNor: Collaboration to promote social inclusion for youth with complex psychosocial needs

This project is a collaboration between different services and research environments. It includes participants from mental health services, the Child Welfare Services (CWS), the educational sector, to co-create and evaluate an intervention that aims to support social inclusion for young people with complex psychosocial needs. Two Youth FACT teams and their partners in the CWSs and the Educational and Psychological counselling Service (EPS), as well as the youths and guardians who receive services from these services will be included. Youths who receive support from the Youth FACT teams are aged 12-25 and have complex psychosocial needs and often experience exclusion from many social arenas. Youth FACT teams are organized as a committed collaboration between the hospital trust and the municipalities. The teams are interdisciplinary and generally provide most services. However, the CWS and the EPS are organized outside the teams, making cooperation essential to ensure comprehensive support to these youths. The project consists of four work packages. In the first work package (WP1), a collaborative intervention will be developed and implemented, which then will be evaluated by the service providers (WP2) and the service users (WP3). Finally, a policy document with recommendations for practice, relevant leaders and health authorities will be provided (WP4). The project consists of researchers from various institutions: RKBU West (NORCE), RKBU North (Ui), NTNU Social Research AS, Innlandet Hospital Trust, and VID Specialized University. Additionally, the project collaborates with Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, two districts in the municipality of Oslo, the Oslo Education Agency, and the Competence Center for Lived Experience and Service Development (KBT). These play crucial roles in either the project-, steering, or resource group for the project. The project engages in international collaboration, with relevant researchers contributing to its advisory board.