Posts By: Sondra Lehmann

Thanks to our network of organizations and leaders across the state, TNOYS has access to incredible expertise for strengthening youth services programming and administrative functions. In our effort to support youth services organizations so they are best able to serve our state’s young people, we share our expertise with organizations who need it through our… Read more »

Houston reVision has been working since 2011 to end the school to prison pipeline in the Houston area through a combination of mentoring, outreach and community activities. While the bulk of their work has been with youth in the juvenile justice system, like many other providers they have increasingly encountered youth that are also simultaneously… Read more »

Connections Individual and Family Services first started operating in Comal County in 1981 and since then, has expanded to provide a variety of services in nearly 20 Texas counties. Connections CEO Kellie Stallings estimates that the organization now reaches over 20,000 people a year through its various programs that include counseling, substance abuse prevention education,… Read more »

Youth voice has always been a critical piece of TNOYS’ approach to strengthening youth services, represented by the “participation” piece of our three-pronged Policy-Practice-Participation framework. Since our annual conference is our largest yearly event, and best opportunity for training and collaboration, it only makes sense that youth should be part of it and we began… Read more »

By Katherine Barillas, PhD, TNOYS’ Director of Child Welfare Policy The challenges of Texas’ child welfare system have received a lot of attention and many leaders and service providers have been hard at work to find solutions to address them.  At the federal level, a new wave of reform presented itself with the Families First Prevention… Read more »

TNOYS always welcomes opportunities to bring our members together to learn, network, and have fun. Yesterday’s Winter Member Meeting was a great chance to do that, as we hosted nearly 50 members from across the state who heard from state executives, TNOYS staff and each other about new developments in youth and family services. Click here… Read more »

  Promise House has been serving homeless youth in North Texas for over thirty years, providing life-saving emergency shelter, transitional housing, pregnant and parenting teen support, counseling, education and outreach services. This past year has been one of significant growth for the organization. While developing their strategic plan almost three years ago, Promise House identified… Read more »

Policy advocacy is an incredibly important piece of TNOYS’ three-pronged approach to strengthen, support, and protect critical services for Texas youth and their families. In fact, we were so busy working to advance our legislative agenda during the 85th Texas Legislative Session last year, it became clear that we needed more hands to help achieve… Read more »

By Guest Blogger Antwon Martin, Communications Coordinator at Austin-based TNOYS member organization SAFE SAFE CARES had only been around for a few months when Mariann arrived at our drop-in center for survivors of sex trafficking. At the time, she was reeling from a recent sexual assault and was still being trafficked. Mariann is one of… Read more »

Reducing seclusion and restraint practices in youth services is a priority for TNOYS because it is so important to preventing re-traumatization of youth who have experienced abuse or neglect. Since 2014, TNOYS has been coordinating the statewide Seclusion & Restraint Reduction Leadership Group, initially established by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, which brings together stakeholders across… Read more »