The Texas Youth-Friendly Initiative (TYFI) helps build the capacity of health centers to improve care delivery to youth ages 10-24 through their participation in an evidence-based model developed by the Adolescent Health Initiative at the University of Michigan. On July 28, the latest cohort will meet in Houston for a summit to evaluate their progress and connect with peers. We encourage you to learn more about TYFI and how we seek to improve healthcare from the youth perspective by reading these blog posts.?The last five have been about this exciting project!?

Each year, the Texas Campaign releases an annual report to highlight important achievements from the previous year.?The Texas Campaign experienced tremendous growth and opportunity throughout 2021. As we adapted to a second year of the pandemic, we challenged ourselves to ensure that we were best poised to tackle the systemic barriers that young people face. To borrow a metaphor, we needed to make sure we were driving our bus to where it needed to go, which meant getting the right people on board and in the right seats. Check it out below!?

Quality sex education remains a top advocacy priority for the Texas Campaign. On July 25, we will deliver testimony to the House Public Education Committee on the impact of new laws around sex education. Texas is now one of just five states in the nation requiring parent consent for sex education, and the only state in the nation requiring parent consent for instruction on abuse prevention. In collaboration with the University of Texas School of Public Health, we are conducting a policy evaluation to see how these new laws are impacting Texas students, their families, and the community.

Texas Foster Youth Health Initiative is piloting, Thrive, a 10-hour, 10-session, interactive curriculum specifically designed to meet the needs of youth (or formerly in) foster care. The areas of focus are, development of a positive sense of self; skills for safe and supportive relationships; and empowerment through medically accurate information and resources. The goal is for youth to feel connected, safe, and empowered?- so they can make informed decisions about their sexual health and relationships. The curriculum was recently implemented in McAllen and Houston with great success and even a little fun!