The Adolescent and Young Adult Health (AYAH) Team serves adolescents through five key programs.
Adolescent Health - Maternal Child Health Block Grant (MCHBG)
The AYAH Unit implements strategies and activities funded by the Title V MCHBG. The strategies promote mental and physical health and wellness among young people. The team achieves this by improving access to youth-friendly physical and mental health care and support services.
Find more information at: Maternal and Child Health Block Grant | Fact sheet (PDF)
School-Based Health Centers (SBHC)
The AYAH Unit collaborates with internal and external partners to promote and support SBHCs in Washington state. This includes promoting policy changes that strengthen SBHCs, building relationships with communities that desire SBHCs in their school district, and working with partners to promote sustainability.
The Washington State Legislature passed SHB 1225, directing the WA Department of Health to form an SBHC program and work with key partners to expand and promote the sustainability of SBHCs throughout the state.
Grants are available for planning, start-up and sustainability. The grants are awarded to communities that represent people most impacted by health inequities.
- School-Based Health Centers Grant Program and Application
- One pager on SBHCs (PDF)
- One pager on bill implementation (PDF)
SBHC Resources
If you would like to receive updates from the Adolescent Health Unit, including bill implementation and youth engagement, email us at AdolescentHealthUnit@doh.wa.gov.
Washington State Personal Responsibility Education Program (WA PREP)
WA PREP works with schools, juvenile rehabilitation facilities, and youth-serving agencies across the state to implement sexual health education. WA PREP intends to help reduce adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV. The programs cover abstinence, contraception, condom use, and adult preparation topics. The program uses culturally relevant and age-appropriate materials created for youth aged 11-21 in the communities where they are implemented. Topics include parent/child communication, healthy relationships, and healthy life skills.
For more information on the State's Comprehensive Sexual Health Education law, see RCW 28A.300.475: Comprehensive sexual health education.
Washington Youth Sexual Health Innovation and Impact Network
The Washington Youth Sexual Health Innovation and Impact Network (WYSHIIN/Network) is a group of 11 Network partners working to improve youth access to and experience with sexual health services focusing on LGTBQIA2S+ and BIPOC youth. The Network partners use new ideas and ways to educate and engage young people about sexual health and make accessing care in Washington easier.
DOH and Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) co-lead the Network. Their goal is to nurture a statewide collaborative to solve systemic issues that cause adverse sexual health outcomes for youth with limited access to health care systems.
WYSHIIN values the experiences of young people and community leaders who work with them. Learn more at Washington Youth Sexual Health Innovation and Impact Network.
Youth Engagement and the Youth Advisory Council
The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a community engagement group of diverse young people across Washington. This group helps DOH learn about public health topics that are important to young people. Members share ideas, opinions, and recommendations about health care, including challenges and barriers young people face accessing and using health care services and systems.
YAC members meet with DOH's Adolescent Health staff to discuss adolescent and young adult health topics. Their insight helps guide public health work to make sure that Department of Health (DOH) strategies are relevant, accessible, and youth friendly. Find more information on the Youth Engagement and the Youth Advisory Council on WAPortal.
If you are interested in joining the Youth Advisory Council or volunteering at the Department of Health, email us at AdolescentHealthUnit@doh.wa.gov.