Posts By: Sondra Lehmann

TNOYS is excited to share new resources with everyone in our network as part of our cutting-edge work for the Youth Count Texas! initiative. In October, we launched a toolkit to communities across Texas to help them prepare for their youth counts. Today, we are sharing it with our whole network — we think that… Read more »

No one knows just how many youth are homeless in Texas or in the United States. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that there were nearly 200,000 children and youth experiencing homelessness on a given night. The U.S. Department of Justice estimated an even more staggering number in 2002 —… Read more »

Creating a Culture of Care was a statewide initiative to help licensed residential treatment centers (RTCs) in Texas reduce the use of seclusion and restraint while creating stronger programs for youth and staff. RTCs typically serve youth with serious mental health and behavioral challenges as well as histories of abuse and neglect. Restraint and seclusion… Read more »

By: April Ferrino, Senior Policy and Evaluation Specialist Where will a youth who is aging out of foster care system land? Too many don’t have a safety net (e.g. housing, employment, education plans, or access to medical care) and may become homeless. This outcome is not unique to the US, as shown in the article below about… Read more »

Announcement from the Department of Family and Protective Services: The next area to benefit from Foster Care Redesign will be DFPS Region 2, which includes 30 counties in Northwest Texas. DFPS will release a Request for Proposals no earlier than December 2015. Foster Care Redesign changes the way that Texas provides and pays for foster… Read more »

Blazing a New Trail in Health and Human Services State health officials started forging a new trail in how health and human services will be organized and delivered in Texas. September 1 marked the beginning of a new state fiscal year and the day new legislative mandates took effect. As you may remember, during the… Read more »

We have a packed calendar of events in the next few months. Check out all the details below for these free events: Friday, September 18, 2015 A Primer in Trauma-Informed Care to Prevent Restraint and Seclusion Round Rock, Texas Join us for a special training opportunity especially for shelters that serve adults or youth. This… Read more »

We are excited to be working with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to support the development of a Texas Homeless Youth Survey Tool. The tool will be used for a statewide count to determine the number of youth experiencing homelessness in Texas and the needs of those youth.  This contract is a… Read more »

TNOYS is coordinating the Harris County Transition-Age Youth and Families initiative focused on youth and caregiver engagement to improve mental health services and supports for a young person’s successful transition to adulthood. We recently partnered with NAMI Greater Houston on a parents and caregivers-only workshop series and are excited to spotlight the experiences of one… Read more »

Please help us in welcoming guest blogger, Aldo Charles, Youth Training Specialist at Disability Rights Texas. During the six-month planning phase the Hogg Foundation gave the eight-grantee organizations of the Harris County Transition Age Youth and Families Initiative, Disability Rights Texas formed a partnership with HCC’s VAST Academy. The VAST Academy is a program HCC offers specifically… Read more »