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                              ICYMI: Readout of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs visit to Texas
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**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 5, 2024**

        **Contact: 
                                    ASH Media**
          202-205-0143ashmedia@hhs.gov

          ICYMI: Readout of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs visit to Texas
    
    

      On February 22, 2024, staff from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 6 and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), with the assistance of three Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) grant recipients, convened a roundtable discussion regarding adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Individuals from Healthy Futures of Texas, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston shared experiences from their programs and discussed staff safety, adolescent confidentiality, access to health care and other supportive services, and the role of the TPP program in supporting youth.

Later that day, DASPA Jessica Swafford Marcella participated in a community dialogue with several youth and local service providers to discuss using *Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being* in their communities. The participants identified three critical pillars: supportive environments, supportive caregivers, and youth agency.

“This new Call to Action articulates a vision that all adolescents in the United States have the safety, support, and resources to thrive, be healthy, and have equitable opportunity to realize their full potential,” said DASPA Marcella. “The breadth and scope of this vision requires intentional collaboration and coordination across all levels of society, including government and non-government agencies working in concert with young people; parents, legal representatives, and other caregivers; educators; clinicians; researchers; advocates; and other youth-serving professionals at the state and community level.  This vision is ambitious, but it’s one we all can and should work together to achieve.”

On February 26, 2024, DASPA Marcella met with the HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge Finalist, the Amala Foundation, to discuss their Travis County Transformation Project, a pilot program that engages youth in restorative justice practices to disrupt intergenerational cycles of violence. She joined District Attorney of Travis County José Garza in a tour of the Travis County Juvenile Detention Center, a youth shelter, and the Amala Foundation headquarters for a restorative justice circle with youth and families in their program.
  

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    Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other news materials are available at https://www.hhs.gov/news.Like HHS on Facebook, follow HHS on Twitter @HHSgov, and sign up for HHS Email Updates.Last revised: April 18, 2024

  
  
  







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  Content created by Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) Content last reviewed April 18, 2024 Back to top
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