Texas has the 9th highest rate of teen birth in the nation, and rates for individual counties tend to be high as well. Of the 40 Texas counties with a population over 100,000, 33 had teen birth rates above the national average in 2020. The 7 Texas counties with teen birth rates lower than the national average are higher-income suburban counties such as Denton, Collin and Fort Bend.

This month, we have lots of exciting news to share about our 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 (TFYHI) 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. To learn more about what we have been up to, click here to access our 18-month progress report.

In addition, the Texas Innovation Network is growing and now includes four regional Child Welfare Agency Partners representing Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley. 

Join TFYHI in San Antonio for the Texas Campaign 11th Annual Symposium. We will be leading a session called "Developing a Trauma-Informed Sex and Relationship Education Curriculum for Youth in Foster Care" on Monday, April 24 from 10:45 am to 11:45 am. Click here to register and join us virtually or in person! 

The Greater Houston TFYHI Stakeholder Meeting will be on March 24, at 3:00 pm. We invite all Greater Houston youth-serving professionals working with foster youth, caregivers of foster youth, or those formerly in care. To register or if you have questions, please contact Ana Belén Zelaya at [email protected]. 

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.

Texas Is Ready has launched a Community of Practice (COP) for Texas School Districts, and is excited about the possibility of growing with and supporting communities in the process of implementing health education in their districts.

The Community of Practice is a grant-funded initiative that provides school districts with tailored support in assessing, selecting, implementing and maintaining sex education and health education, and using research-based tools and resources designed by the University of Texas School of Public Health. This process is designed to fit into busy schedules, while also providing opportunities to share best practices and learn from other districts. While the hope is that districts will take full advantage of program offerings, participation can be as simple as working through a district self-assessment and receiving resources to help navigate through the process of implementation.

If your school district or charter school is interested in joining the Texas Is Ready COP, please fill out the interest form. 

The Texas Is Ready COP liaison officer is J.R. Chester. Please contact her with any questions at [email protected].

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. 

We welcome our new Health Educator for the Texas Foster Youth Health Initiative! Denise is a passionate and enthusiastic Health Educator who believes that with the right tools, medically-accurate information, and support, youth and adults can be empowered to make the healthiest decisions regarding their sexual health. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Communication at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She hopes to become a Certified Community Health Worker and further her education in Public Health with continued interest in Sexual and Reproductive Health. Her professional experience includes youth development, program development and implementation, health education, training youth-serving adults and capacity building amongst community organizations. Specifically, she has worked for non-profit organizations for more than nine years focusing on topics such as drug/alcohol prevention, girls empowerment, leadership development, and teen pregnancy prevention. Outside of work, Denise finds joy in being outdoors, cooking, listening to music with her husband, having a great cup of coffee, laughing as much as possible, and volunteering at her church.