This week our partners at the Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing launched a request for proposals for the Texas Foster Youth Health Initiative  (TFYHI), which aims to build relationships across child welfare and adolescent health systems to promote optimal health and prevent dating abuse, unwanted teen pregnancies, and STIs among child welfare-involved youth. This initiative is also in partnership with Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Healthy Futures of Texas, and the North Texas Alliance to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy in Teens). TACFS has been developing and testing innovative interventions for youth in care, foster caregivers, and child welfare professionals to help youth in foster care feel connected, safe, and empowered to make decisions about their sexual health and relationships.

Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), TFYHI is seeking to partner with residential care operations and child-placing agencies serving children in the areas of Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and the Rio Grande Valley to pilot and test interventions for youth, foster caregivers, and staff. Interventions are trauma-informed and inclusive, build skills for communication and healthy relationships, increase knowledge about sexual development and sexual and reproductive health, and provide resources and ongoing technical assistance.

“I’m thrilled to be part of this initiative and to be offering an opportunity to work with organizations to test a variety of interventions to help better educate our youth in care on making decisions about their sexual, reproductive, and relational health from a medically-accurate, inclusive, trauma-informed perspective,”

said Andrea Requenes, Statewide Training Coordinator

Learn more about this opportunity and apply today.