Aaron’s story is why this exists. Be The One is what we’re building because of it.
Independence should not require isolation. We are developing ideas that put young people at the center of their support, strengthen connection, and keep a handoff from becoming a disappearance.
The projects below are proposals in development, not currently available services, established clinical protocols, or proven interventions. Implementation would require partner development, appropriate professional review, and evaluation. No pilot partners or enrollment are announced here.
Support Without Taking Over™
Our proposed flagship project is a structured supported-autonomy model for young people roughly ages 15–25. The aim is to help young people identify trusted support while retaining their voice, choices, and boundaries. Participation would need to account for age, consent, privacy, safeguarding, applicable law, and clinical judgment.
Start with a conversation
- Who is your trusted person?
- Who knows you well when you’re not doing well?
- Who can give the team information?
- Who may receive information?
- What would you want that person involved in?
- What would you not want them involved in?
These questions are intended to support a meaningful conversation, not replace required consent processes or automatically authorize access to information.
A Support Circle chosen by the young person
The following are proposed roles, not legal access categories or blanket permissions.
- Level 1 — Information Contributor: A trusted person who can share concerns and observations through an agreed channel. Receiving information and disclosing information back are separate questions.
- Level 2 — Support Partner: A chosen person who could participate in designated planning or discharge discussions with the appropriate consent and permissions.
- Level 3 — Crisis Support Partner: A chosen person identified in a predetermined crisis plan, including contact preferences and circumstances, consistent with applicable law and clinical judgment.
The young person remains at the center. Support should be chosen, specific, and responsive to changing preferences, not a transfer of control.
Be The One Pilot Programs
We envision three settings in which partners could help develop, test, and evaluate these ideas.
Schools & Colleges: Be The One Campus Pilot
A proposed campus track would explore trusted-adult identification, peer connection and safe spaces, mental-health navigation, warning-sign training, and transition-age support.
Potential components include post-hospitalization re-entry planning, suicide-attempt follow-up protocols developed with qualified professionals, support-person inclusion options, referral tracking, and warm handoffs to community care.
The One Person Question
Who is one person you trust enough to help you when you cannot advocate for yourself?
The proposed question would open a conversation, not require someone to name a person or surrender decision-making. A pilot could track whether the question was asked and whether a young person identified a trusted support.
Clinics & Behavioral Health: Support Without Taking Over Clinical Pilot
A proposed 6–12-month pilot could test a supported-autonomy conversation and trusted-support designation for young people roughly ages 15–25 entering treatment.
Possible components include a secure way for support people to share observations, written crisis preferences, a continuity-of-care plan, discharge safety planning, a follow-up schedule, and a designated care navigator for patients who need more intensive coordination.
Evaluation could examine treatment retention, missed appointments, repeat emergency visits, readmissions, completed follow-up after discharge, patient satisfaction, support-person satisfaction, and treatment engagement. Partners would need to define measures, privacy safeguards, resources, and an appropriate evaluation approach before launch.
The question is not whether we can promise this will work. It is whether we can test a practical model and measure what changes.
Hospitals & Emergency Departments: No Lost Handoffs
This proposed pilot would focus on the transition after a serious psychiatric crisis. The goal is a connection to care, not simply a list of phone numbers.
Before discharge
- Identify a trusted person where appropriate.
- Confirm a safe destination.
- Review medications and barriers to obtaining them.
- Schedule follow-up when practicable, rather than only recommending it.
- Document crisis preferences.
- Plan appropriate communication of relevant safety information to the next treating provider.
- Establish a plan for post-discharge contact.
A proposed check-in within 24–72 hours
A navigator could check whether the person reached their destination, obtained medications, understood the plan, experienced worsening symptoms, and successfully connected with the next provider.
This is a proposed coordination model for professional development and review, not individualized discharge guidance or an emergency response service.
What We Want to Learn
Can clearer support roles, stronger continuity, and meaningful follow-up help young people stay connected to care? What do young people and their chosen supporters find helpful? What do clinical and campus teams need to make the model workable?
We want to build with young people, families, educators, clinicians, and community partners, then evaluate honestly. We are not claiming demonstrated outcomes or a confirmed implementation cost.
Connection before crisis. Support without taking over. No one gets lost between systems.