Planned Parenthood Pasadena & San Gabriel Valley is proud to provide sexual health education for youth in foster care and staff who work with youth in foster care.
Every public and charter middle and high school in California is required to provide comprehensive sexual health education to students, however too many youth in foster care miss out on this education because of placement changes and other systemic barriers. Youth express a desire for a sexual health education program that recognizes their unique needs.
The Reproductive Health Equity Project (RHEP) set out to ensure that every youth in California foster care ages 12 – 18 can receive age-appropriate, medically accurate and trauma-informed sexual health education that is just for them. In efforts to achieve this goal, we worked with a team of experts to develop a virtual sexual health education program just for youth in foster care!
Teen Talk for Youth in Alternative Settings (TTYAS) is Health Connected’s newest curriculum designed for and informed by youth who are in foster care. This curriculum meets the requirements of the California Healthy Youth Act and the California Foster Youth Sexual Health Education Act (SB 89). Through collaboration with RHEP partners, Planned Parenthood Pasadena & San Gabriel Valley has adapted this program for virtual delivery and is now available for youth in foster care across California.
Requirements for Youth:
Youth must be in foster care in California (have a social worker or suitably placed through probation)
Youth must be between the ages of 12-17 or 18+ years and still enrolled in high school
Youth must have access to Zoom. Headphones are recommended for added privacy
Youth must have a non-school related email to receive series information and reminders
What's Included:
Live, interactive, synchronous workshop sessions with Q&A with a highly trained facilitator who is an expert in working with youth in foster care
Access to a unique Google Site with resources vetted for youth in foster care and additional interactive activities
Certificate of Completion (can be used by CSW for SB 89 requirement)
Opportunity for participants to earn incentives in the form of an Amazon or Target gift card, $85 for attending 8+ sessions with a $40 bonus if the Exit survey is completed AND the youth has participated in all 11 lessons = potential to earn up to $125)
TTYAS requires a one-to-one, youth to device ratio. Incentives are based on how often youth participate in polls, chats and unmuting as well as attendance. It is hard to know who is participating when more than one person joins from the same computer.
The California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) has a number of resources on SB 89 that may be helpful for preparing to talk to youth about their participation in the Teen Talk Youth in Alternative Settings (TTYAS) program.
School-based email addresses often automatically filter out emails from outside your school district, meaning you may not receive important information from us, such as series reminders or the webinar link to join.
You will receive the webinar link, by email, the Friday before the session starts and again the morning of the first day of the series in which you are enrolled.
Youth are required to provide us with the name and email of their social worker, lawyer or group home staff. If someone cannot provide us with this information, they cannot gain access to the webinar.
No, once the enrollment form for each series is closed we cannot accept any more enrollments. But you are welcome to join us for a future series. One way you can stay updated on our upcoming series is to join the Interest List here, so that you are notified when another series enrollment period opens.
The series is presented in a Zoom webinar format, meaning that participants will not be able to turn their camera on or see who else is in the room with them in a participant list. This is an interactive webinar and youth have the option to participate through polls, chats and unmuting. If youth would like to remain completely anonymous, they can change their name in the webinar so that it does not appear if/when they utilize the chat function. However, educators will reach out during the session for their legal name so that we are able to track their attendance.
Unfortunately, TTYAS is a completely online program, which means that youth are to be enrolled online and participate online as well. If you need support accessing the internet or a device, please share those concerns with your social worker.
Outside our service area?
The California Planned Parenthood affiliates are trusted providers of comprehensive sex education in California. Each affiliate offers a range of sex education and resources to equip all individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to protect their health and build their future, without shame or judgement. To make a request for education for youth in foster care in your area, select your county area to be directed to each affiliate's education page.
Select your county area to be directed to each affiliate's education page.