HHS Issues Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being

Today, HHS issued Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being a new effort to promote collaboration and spur action to improve the health and well-being of adolescents across the U.S.

“Young people today are facing significant challenges to their health and well-being,” said Admiral Rachel Levine, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health. “We are committed to working closely with our allies and partners across the country to support improvements in adolescent health and well-being.”

“It is critical that we take action for adolescents now,” said Jessica Swafford Marcella, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs. “This new Call to Action and accompanying toolkit will inspire collaborative efforts across youth-serving sectors to build a healthier future for America’s young people.”

Take Action for Adolescents outlines a vision, key principles, eight goals, and a set of initial action steps. It is research-based and was developed with extensive input from adult and youth allies and partners, including nationally recognized adolescent health experts. It is accompanied by a Take Action Toolkit with tips and resources to spur collaboration in states and communities.

Take Action for Adolescent’s eight goals are: 1) Eliminate disparities to advance health equity, 2) Increase youth agency and youth engagement, 3) Ensure access to safe and supportive environments, 4) Increase coordination and collaboration within and across systems, 5) Expand access to health care and human services, 6) Strengthen training and support for caring adults, 7) Improve health information and health literacy, and 8) Support, translate, and disseminate research.

This Call to Action is designed to motivate, energize, and inspire anyone who supports adolescents.  The action steps are aligned with each goal and designated for policy makers, health care and human service providers and organizations, other youth-serving professionals and organizations, parents and other caregivers, and researchers. The action steps are a starting point for designing customized approaches that address the needs of young people in their communities.

The Office of Population Affairs’ Take Action for Adolescents webpage features a suite of resources that are easy to download and share.