We want to send a heartfelt “thank you” to the many members, stakeholders, and youth and young adult partners who worked alongside us this year.
While 2025 presented many challenging obstacles for youth, young adults, and the providers who serve them, we were also reminded of the incredible achievements that are possible. When we collaborate across systems and with youth and young adults, we can build and protect a Texas where all young people can thrive. Below, we’re excited to share just a few of the past year’s wins and milestones that were made possible thanks to your support:
1. Legislative Session Highlights: Prioritizing Youth and Providers at The Texas Capitol
In the face of a tough political landscape, TNOYS was proud to work alongside our partners to put forward a cross-systems, youth-focused agenda of 16 policy and budget priorities, all influenced and informed by young people and providers on the ground.
- TNOYS’ Capitol Day for Members and Day of Action for Youth brought incredible energy to the Texas Capitol with over 240 youth, young adults, and providers in attendance across both events. Read our full recap here.
- A standout moment from the legislative session was seeing community voice in action as TNOYS members, youth, and young adult partners educated legislative staff on their priorities during meetings and committee hearings throughout the session. Highlights include:
- YALC member Mikyra spoke for increased funding for mental health supports in schools;
- TELB member Kyren Jackson and Covenant House Felicia Broussard discussed the importance of support and housing for young adults experiencing homelessness;
- YYA Grace Goetz educated on the need for stronger resources to help young parents stay connected to school and work. Watch these testimonies and more here.
- Our hard work paid off with the passage of several bills that will eliminate barriers for systems-involved youth. We’re especially excited for new policies that will help extend the tuition waiver deadline for young people who have aged out of foster care; a bill that adds the required curriculum in PAL classes to include education around credit scores and predatory lending; and new line items in the state budget to promote efficiency in youth-serving systems.
2. Expanding and Amplifying YYA Voices at TNOYS
TNOYS has long held the belief that the best way to serve and support young people is to center their voices and experiences. Those efforts took shape in many ways this year, from storytelling to youth-led trainings.
- The programs along TNOYS’ youth engagement roadmap continued to grow and expand. This year, we engaged nearly 400 youth and young adults across Texas, as well as 22 young people through TNOYS’ Young Adult Leadership Council (YALC) and Texas Emerging Leaders Board (TELB).
- TNOYS’ PEAKS Camp was a big success, engaging over 80 youth and adult sponsors. With PEAKS Camp 2026 on the horizon, TNOYS is seeking support to help make our flagship experiential learning camp better than ever. Learn more here.
- Through our Youth Voices, program we hosted storytelling trainings and opportunities in Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth, and interviewed over 50 youth and young adults on a range of topics including youth homelessness, foster care involvement, transitioning out of systems and into adulthood, and much more.
- TNOYS was proud to work closely with several YALC members to share their stories on our blog. Check out Mikyra’s story, Diamond’s story, Syd’s story, and Zahda’s story.
3. Connecting Youth-Serving Providers with Cutting-Edge Resources and Training
In 2025, TNOYS expanded our work to equip youth-serving providers with cutting-edge resources and tools to better serve youth and young adults.
- We hosted our 42nd Annual Conference and enthusiastically embraced the theme Deep in the Heart of What Connects Us alongside over 400 professionals, youth, and young adults. Thank you to everyone who joined us to network, build new skills, and have fun alongside the youth and young adults they served.
- TNOYS continued to expand access to our Blueprint for Youth Engagement (BYEn), a first-of-its-kind training series that equips providers to effectively engage YYA as clients, collaborators, and employees. Thanks to support from the Office of the Governor, HUD, and the Amarillo Area Foundation, TNOYS hosted BYEn trainings in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Amarillo, and virtually, engaging over 300 trainees.
- Outside of our two major conferences, TNOYS engaged both subject matter experts and youth with lived experience as trainers, speakers, and presenters, including continuing our free training series on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation Identification Tool, developed thanks to support from the Office of the Texas Governor’s Child Sex Trafficking Team. Overall, we trained approximately 1,500 youth-serving professionals across 48 unique training opportunities.
- TNOYS connected dozens of youth-serving providers to expert technical assistance throughout the year. This included intensive TA following TNOYS’ BYEn training series to help organizations strengthen their youth engagement practices.
4. Strengthening Services and Support for Young People Experiencing or Vulnerable to Homelessness
This past year, TNOYS reached several important milestones in our ongoing work to prevent and address youth and young adult homelessness. With support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Youth Homelessness System Improvement (YHSI) grant program, TNOYS launched a range of initiatives designed to strengthen homelessness response systems and ensure they are efficient, accessible, equitable, and centered on the needs of youth and young adults.
- We engaged 110 YYA and 75 providers in a survey to understand the needs, strengths, challenges, and opportunities for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
- TNOYS hosted eight listening sessions with YYA and five listening sessions with providers, engaging 82 YYA and 133 providers in total.
- We were excited to launch our first two Regional Capacity Building Events (RCBEs), two-day events in Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio that featured rich discussions and solution-building with over 170 youth, young adults, and youth-serving providers.
- TNOYS engaged dozens of stakeholders as part of our Statewide Collaborative on Youth Homelessness (SCYH), Texas’ only statewide committee specifically created to address homelessness among youth and young adults. Interested in getting involved with the SCYH in the new year? Keep an eye on tnoys.org/events to learn when the next meeting takes place.
- Across all our work, TNOYS YYA partners voiced important issues and possible solutions when it comes to addressing YYA homelessness. Select quotes from their work are below:
These are just a few highlights from our work in 2025. We’re incredibly grateful for the members, stakeholders, and youth partners who joined us along the way, and we can’t wait to continue our impact in 2026! If you are interested in joining our work, we encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter and learn how you can become a member of TNOYS.
