Our top notch team, and your one-stop shop for all things adolescent sexual health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) funds NCSD’s adolescent health team to provide technical assistance and capacity building to state leaders in education and health agencies through the Leadership Exchange for Adolescent Health Promotion (LEAHP) project.
Through new cooperative agreements and supplemental funding, NCSD continues to provide capacity building assistance and subject matter expertise around increasing youth access to sexual health services, providing adequate sexual health education, ensuring youth can thrive in safe and supportive environments, and supporting youth through national emergencies such as pandemics and outbreaks.
LEAHP provides opportunities for state leaders to build state-specific action plans to support policies and practices to improve adolescent health and wellbeing in three priority areas: sexual health education, sexual health services and safe and supportive environments. Through this learning collaborative, participants benefit from cross-state collaboration, training, and state-specific technical assistance. Register here to access the free, self-paced training. Interested in creating a state team and joining LEAHP? Complete the interest form or reach out to a LEAHP team member at info@leahp.org. To learn more about the project, visit LEAHP.org.
NCSD also brings our expertise to the halls of Congress, where we educate elected officials and their staffs about the importance of adolescent sexual health and advocate for increased federal investment in evidence-based and effective programs. In the 118th Congress, NCSD is working to double the nation’s investment in DASH, re-establish funding for state education agencies as part of DASH’s work, and advance the Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act (REAHYA). When passed and enacted, REAHYA will enable HHS to establish a nationwide grant program that will increase youth access to sex education and connect marginalized young people with critical sexual health services, as well as train America’s educators to teach affirming and quality sex education.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, DASH awarded supplemental funding to NCSD to create new tools, resources, and trainings to support state leaders in mitigating the impacts of disruptions related to COVID-19 and Health Equity on School-Based activities.
As part of this supplemental funding, NCSD released a toolkit, Adolescent Sexual Health Telehealth Services During COVID-19, as well as an accompanying webinar series. The Developing a Referral System for Adolescent Sexual Health Services toolkit was also updated to include a greater emphasis on health equity and considerations for COVID. Other activities produced under the DASH supplemental funding include an Adolescent Health Resource Compendium, Linking Sexual Health Services to Outbreak Response ELearning training, and an upcoming Referral System webinar series. Find links to all of these resources, trainings, and tools in the Resources section below.
Find links to all of these resources, tools, and trainings on our Supplemental Resource page.
Adolescent Health Resource Compendium
Submit new resources for consideration to the compendium here.
Policy Resource: Parental Rights Legislation
Resources on Minor Consent for STI Services
Delivering Adolescent Sexual Health Services During COVID-19
Navigating Adolescent Sexual Health Plans
Developing a Referral System for Sexual Health Services
2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Report
Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey
Adolescent Health: What Works in Schools
National Association of School Nurses: Sexual Health Toolkit
Contact Christy Altidor, Director of Adolescent Health Policy with any questions or to partner on new projects.