TNOYS RECEIVES GRANT FOR CENTRAL TEXAS YOUTH ENGAGEMENT PROJECT

November 4, 2016 — AUSTIN – Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) has received a two-year, $100,000 grant from St. David’s Foundation’s Opportunity Grants initiative, which will be used to launch a new youth engagement project in Central Texas titled “Recovery Through Participation.” The project will promote the value of youth engagement as a tenet of trauma informed care through collaboration with youth services providers and the development and pilot of a peer counseling program in the region.

 

“More and more, providers are recognizing  youth as resources in their own development rather than as problems to be fixed, but it’s often challenging to find ways to engage youth meaningfully,” said Christine Gendron, executive director of TNOYS. “TNOYS has had great success collaborating with service providers in other parts of the state to enhance their youth engagement efforts, and we’re grateful to St. David’s Foundation for providing the resources to help us expand these efforts to Central Texas.”

 

The first year of Recovery Through Participation will involve developing and implementing a training and support program for participating organizations, and in the second year, organizations will be encouraged to work in collaboration with TNOYS to develop and pilot a peer counseling program where youth will work with young clients and their families  alongside adult counselors. Work on the project is getting started this month, with TNOYS working to recruit partner organizations in Central Texas to join the effort.

 

The University of Texas’ Hogg Foundation for Mental Health will serve as an advisor for Recovery Through Participation. TNOYS and the Hogg Foundation have previously collaborated successfully on similar projects in the past.

About Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS)

For more than 30 years, TNOYS has been the leading organization working to enhance services for Texas youth who are homeless, in foster care, or at risk, and to support the providers who care for them. The organization takes a comprehensive systems change approach to enhancing critical services for youth and families, focusing on policy advocacy, training and program development for providers, and youth engagement. To learn more, visit www.tnoys.org.