The 11th Annual Symposium is scheduled for April 25-27, 2022. We plan on hosting a hybrid learning event, in collaboration with Healthy Futures of Texas, with the in-person component taking place at the Embassy Suites Landmark in San Antonio.

This month, we have lots of exciting news to share about our upcoming collaborative work. The Texas Campaign partners with others across the state to leverage local and regional resources with statewide systems change. Read about our inspiring projects below. 

The Texas Foster Youth Health Initiative (TYFI) establishes, funds, coordinates, and supports a multidisciplinary network of community partners to develop and test cutting edge sexual health interventions for youth and their caregivers.

TYFI welcomes a new collaborator, Trel’s Home, who will receive their first training in February on strategies for sharing trauma-informed, medically accurate facts about sex and sexuality. Click here to learn more about Trel's Home.

The Collaborative for Youth in Care (CLYC) is made up of eight organizations with expertise in teen pregnancy prevention and child welfare. 

One of the partners, the UTHealth team has begun the process of evaluating the effects of the opt-in policy for sexual education, which aims to understand if the new policy hinders the adoption of sexual education in schools. The information gathered will be helpful in direct advocacy purposes.

At the end of last year, Harris County commissioners unanimously approved the construction of The Houston Alumni and Youth Center campus (another CLYC partner) to provide services for young adults transitioning out of foster care. Click here to learn more about the campus!

The Texas Is Ready Coalition is composed of three organizations with a shared vision that every Texas youth deserves the information they need for a lifetime of healthy relationships and positive sexual health outcomes.

The Texas Is Ready Coalition provides support to School Health Advisory Committees in many districts and presents valuable information to community members around the state about the revisions to the sex education minimum standards. 

Join the Texas Campaign and researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health for an overview of iCHAMPSS, a free online tool to help school districts select, implement, and maintain evidence-based health education curriculum. This free webinar is designed for school administrators, SHAC members, educators, and community members who hope to play a role in supporting high-quality sex education in their school district.
There are two opportunities to join:

• Tuesday, February 22, from 12-1 pm (register here) 
• Thursday, February 24, from 4-5 pm (register here) 

The Texas Is Ready Coalition  welcomed five Young Ambassadors at the end of last year. The Texas Campaign Young Ambassador Program aims to connect young advocates with the platforms, people and tools they need to strengthen their capacity, increase their knowledge and expand their networks so that they can continue to champion increased access to sexual and reproductive health care and sexual education for everyone in Texas. 

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. 

This month the cohort will meet for a quarterly summit to develop a deeper understanding of how to drive practice changes for exceptional health service delivery to youth, identify barriers to implementation, develop strategies for success, and network with one another. 

As a reminder, The Texas Campaign sends out a donor statement in February to summarize the cumulative total of donations, so please keep your eye out for this letter to assist with your taxes. Remember that raffle purchases and gifts made through third parties such as donor advised funds or Facebook will not be included.

If you need this information sooner, please contact Julia at [email protected]