Austin Healthy Adolescent (AHA) Program

The Austin Healthy Adolescent (AHA) Program engages, empowers, and collaborates with communities across Travis County and Del Valle to support youth in taking ownership of their own health and working to advance the health of their communities.

Vision:

AHA envisions a generation of liberated youth and young adults who are valued participants in achieving health equity.

Mission:

The Mission of AHA is to expand youth choice and amplify youth voice in Austin/Travis County and Del Valle through community engagement, health education, and positive youth development.

Values:

Social justice
Self-determination
Respect
Responsibility
Education
Balancing wellness and action

Programs:

Peer-2-Peer (P2P)

AHA has implemented an innovative, evidence-based, peer-led health project for Travis County youth ages 13-19. The goal of this intervention is for all youth who participate to increase their knowledge, skills, and attitudes about healthy relationships while becoming empowered to share this information with their peers. Youth can serve as either Peer Health Educators or as program participants. P2P provides leadership development and positive youth development opportunities to the Peer Health Educators.
Funding comes from a 1115 Waiver Grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Do you want to be a peer health educator or a peer advisory committee member? Do you want to get paid to be a leader for your friends? Apply by April 14th! We are looking for rising 8^th graders to 12^th graders to be part of the youth movement in AHA. See the link: https://forms.office.com/g/87jiUYmBHj and apply today!

Del Valle Healthy Adolescent Project (DVHAP)

The Del Valle Healthy Adolescent Project (DVHAP) is a three-component intervention developed by Austin Public Health’s Austin Healthy Adolescent (AHA) Program and the DVHAP partner organizations. The organizations that make up the Core DVHAP partners include: AHA, The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health (UTHealth), SAFE Alliance (SAFE), Integral Care, El Buen Samaritano, Nicole Treviño Consulting (NTC), and the Travis county Adolescent Health (TCAH) Collaborative. The project goals include improving the optimal health of adolescents in the Del Valle Independent School District (DVISD), and reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections through: (1) effective sexual health education, (2) youth, family and community engagement in systems improvement and (3) improving the support services system, which includes expanding support services for DVISD youth. For more information on the DVHAP project please click this link.

“The project described was supported by Grant Number 1 TP1AH000223-01-00 from the HHS Office of Population Affairs."

“Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Population Affairs.”

LGBTQ+ Youth Support Group

AHA will be providing on-going support groups for LGBTQ+ teens in the Austin and Del Valle area. Our groups are designed to uplift the mental, social, physical and emotional health of LGBTQ+ teens through youth led discussions and activities. Additional services provided include free hygiene supplies, office workspace including internet access and printing, and educational materials.

Resources

COVID-19 and Youth

Currently, the COVID-19 vaccine is available at most pharmacies for individuals 12 years or older. Austin Public Health has vaccines available with no appointment necessary. Please visit this site to find your nearest walk-up location.

For more information, please visit:

Local COVID-19 Dashboards: