Summary: The appropriateness and completion of developmental supports for youth and young adults with serious mental health (MH) conditions during the transition to adulthood are the focus of this paper. This paper presents evidence that current policies and practices are generally inappropriate and foreshortened at the critical juncture when youth with serious MH conditions are on the threshold of becoming functioning adults in our society. Based on the research literature on youth development (both for adolescents with and without serious MH conditions) and on current system configurations and exemplary practices, this paper puts forward a framework for judging federal policies and programs and for developing recommendations for change.