Welcome to Maternal & Child Health’s
Adolescent Health website.
While adolescents are generally healthy, substance abuse and other risky
behaviors can be common problems. These health issues can have long-term
effects. Follow these links to learn more:
What’s New
Important
Numbers
Positive Youth
Development
For Health Care
Providers
Related Sites
Parents
Resources
Teens
Texas Healthy
Adolescent Initiative
Sexual Violence
Prevention
Monthly Topic:
Youth can be at risk of falling victim of human trafficking.
Human trafficking is slavery. It forces men, women, and children into unfair
labor or forced sex.
There are different types of trafficking but two affect
adolescents:
- 1)Trafficking
of children and youth for forced labor.
- 2)Trafficking
of children and youth for sex.
ALL CHILDREN ARE
VULNERABLE.
Warning signs that a young person may be being trafficked:
- Missing school
- Changing appearance
- Changing friends
- Hanging out with older teens or young adults
- Tattoos that may be brands
- Unexplained injuries
- Lack of identification
You can help by learning more. Watch the Attorney General’s
“Be The One” training video
in the fight against human trafficking.
How can you “Be The One”? Report it!
- Call 9-1-1.
- Call the National Human Trafficking Hotline
(NHTH) at 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or
INFO to BeFree (233733). The NHTH connects victims with services in the area. They provide training,
technical help, and other resources.
- Visit Texas HHSC’s website
to learn more.
The Maternal &
Child Health - Adolescent Health area takes a “whole child” look at adolescent
health and well-being. Instead of tackling risky behaviors alone, the Adolescent
Health area focuses on:
- the overlap between risky
behaviors;
- the common causes;
- the strengths that a youth has;
- the adults who support youth; and
- successful activities.
Youth work should
center on skills youth need to cope with stress and reduce the urge to take
risks. We refer to these skills as protective factors. Youth work should focus
on strengths. The Positive Youth Development (PYD) model is key to health
strategies for youth. PYD projects:
- develop relationships with caring
adults;
- support caring interactions with
parents;
- promote positive connections to
school; and
- have opportunities for youth to
experiment in healthy ways.
Partners include:
- State agencies
- families
- schools
- churches
- communities
- youth agencies
Research from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health shows that
adolescents understand risk. The risk of any given action fails to stop them
because of the benefits they perceive.
MCH believes that
youth and family input is vital to program success in the community. Please
send questions or comments to us!
For more
information, please contact us at:
Texas Department of State Health Services
Maternal & Child Health
PO Box 149347, Mail Code 1922
Austin, TX 78714-9347
(512) 776-7373: Phone
(512) 458-7658: Fax
TitleV@dshs.texas.gov
External links
to other sites are intended to be informational and do not have the endorsement
of the Texas Department of State Health Services. These external links may not
be accessible to persons with disabilities. For more information about Maternal
and Child Health or information regarding adolescent health in Texas, please
email TitleV@dshs.texas.gov or call (512) 776-7373.