Thanks to a grant from the Office of the Texas Governor, TNOYS is launching a collaborative new project this month with the Texas Center for Child and Family Studies (The Center) to reduce the risk of youth becoming victims of child sex trafficking (CST) and to facilitate recovery for survivors. Through the project, TNOYS will build… Read more »
Blog
33rd Annual PEAKS Camp Teaches Youth and Adults Valuable Lessons
For over 30 years, PEAKS Adventure Camp has provided an opportunity for teens in foster care to have a traditional camp experience, learning to overcome challenges and build partnerships with adults as they prepare to enter adulthood. This year, a last-minute budget shortfall threatened to keep TNOYS from hosting PEAKS Camp, but thanks to a… Read more »
DFPS and TNOYS Offer Multi-City Training on Runaway Prevention
In 2017, 1,700 youth in foster care in Texas ran away, and for many it wasn’t the first time they had done so. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has launched an effort to better understand why youth run from care and how they can better support these youth to prevent them… Read more »
TNOYS Member Organizations Share Best Practices at the Texas Capitol
One of the many benefits TNOYS offers our member organizations is assistance making their voices heard in policy decisions that impact their work. Last month, we hosted one of the most important events that helps us do that, our biennial Member Advocacy Day and Innovation & Excellence Showcase at the Texas State Capitol. The day… Read more »
TNOYS Executive Director Joins NN4Y Board of Directors
TNOYS and our members are proud to have led many statewide efforts here in Texas to combat youth homelessness, from conducting the Youth Count! Texas survey to launching Texas’ Statewide Workgroup for Youth Homelessness. But it’s critical that we are also plugged in to efforts at the national level, to ensure that we stay abreast… Read more »
Powerful Testimony by Youth and Young Adults in the 86th Legislative Session
TNOYS has always made it a priority to elevate the voices of youth in a variety of ways in our policy work. Hearing directly from youth with lived experience in the youth services and child welfare system has a powerful impact on all who witness it. It is especially important that the lawmakers who create… Read more »
Youth in Action Capitol Day 2019
Since the start of the 86thTexas Legislature this January, TNOYS has been at the forefront in engaging youth and young adults from our member and partner organizations in the legislative process. Through opportunities to give testimony during legislative hearings and at our February 1stYouth in Action Capitol Day, youth have been able to share their… Read more »
TNOYS Awards 6 Capacity-Building and Emergency Supply Grants to Hurricane Harvey-Impacted Areas
TNOYS is honored to have awarded $117,500 in grants so far to support schools and community-based organizations in meeting the demand from youth and families who are homeless or in unstable living conditions as a result of Hurricane Harvey as part of its Safety Nets for Students and Families project. Grants to Increase Capacity In… Read more »
Training and Consultation to Strengthen Safety Nets Across the Gulf Coast
Since its inception in September, 2018, the Safety Net for Students and Families initiative has hosted 10 training events in cities and communities across the Gulf Coast region to support partnerships among school and district personnel as well as youth and homeless services providers as well as build critical skills to support youth and families who… Read more »
How TNOYS Member Organizations Are Fighting Sex Trafficking of Youth in Texas
January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Texas, a reflection of the deep commitment held by our state’s leaders to ending child sex trafficking. The designation, first made by the Legislature in 2015 and championed by Governor. Greg Abbott, provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the problem and solutions to address it. Several of… Read more »