Health & Human Services

Background: Texas continues to face a significant challenge in serving Opportunity Youth and Young Adults (OYYA), individuals ages 16 to 24 who are disconnected from education and employment and often experience complex behavioral, social, and mental health needs. Many of these youth have histories of involvement with the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) or the juvenile justice system, and they frequently encounter barriers to achieving educational or economic stability.  

The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) reaches this population through several programs, including the Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Waiver, the Youth Crisis Outreach Team (YCOT), Community Resource Coordination Groups (CRCGs), and Peer and Family Support Services.  While these programs provide critical behavioral health and crisis support, there is no unified framework within HHSC to identify, track, or report outcomes for OYYA across systems. Current data collection primarily measures service utilization and behavioral outcomes (e.g., crisis encounters, functional improvements, or family stability), but does not consistently capture long-term transition outcomes, such as educational attainment, workforce participation, or stable housing, that are essential to understanding and improving OYYA success.  

Recommendation 1: For Youth Empowerment Services (YES), Youth Crisis Outreach Teams (YCOT) and peer programs, extend eligibility from age 18 to age 24 and align with workforce, housing, and higher education supports.  

Recommendation 2: Current CRCG data systems and performance measures do not specifically capture outcomes for Opportunity Youth and Young Adults (OYYA), individuals ages 16–24 who are disconnected from school and work, often with overlapping behavioral health, housing instability, or justice involvement. Without tracking outcomes for this population, the state lacks visibility into how well CRCGs support OYYA transition goals such as education completion, job training, and sustained stability. 

Embed OYYA indicators into CRCG reporting tools and performance dashboards, tracking outcomes such as educational re-engagement, workforce participation, housing stability, and behavioral health access. In doing this, CRCG operations would help align local coordination efforts with state priorities for workforce readiness, behavioral health, and community reintegration. Example of OYYA metrics: education reconnection (i.e. school re-enrollment rate, credential attainment, program enrollment), workforce/employment metrics (i.e. earnings rate, employment rate, employer engagement), support metrics (i.e. housing, access to insurance, food support), cross-system metrics (i.e. OYYA served by more than one agency, reduction in services or duplication of services, agency referrals), and long-term impacts (i.e. decrease in disconnection rate for OYYA) .

Department of Family and Protective Services

Background: Youth and young adults served by DFPS, particularly those transitioning out of foster care or involved in extended care, often face significant barriers to stable employment and self-sufficiency. Many lack access to career pathways, industry-recognized credentials, and postsecondary supports that are critical for long-term economic independence. While DFPS administers transition and independent living programs, formal coordination with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), and community colleges remains limited and inconsistent across regions. Without statutory requirements for structured collaboration, opportunities for career development, credentialing, and job placement are not fully leveraged for youth exiting care. 

Recommendation: Direct the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to strengthen interagency coordination with the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in collaboration with Local Workforce Development Boards and community colleges, to expand access for former foster youth to industry-recognized credentials, apprenticeships, and certificate programs aligned with regional workforce needs. Prioritize enrollment in programs eligible for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Youth and Young Adult (OYYA) funding, and require reporting to the Legislature on standardized OYYA education, workforce, support, cross-system coordination, and long-term outcome metrics. 

Department of State Health Services

Background:  Opportunity Youth and Young Adults (OYYA), youth who are 16-24 and not in school or employed, represent an untapped potential  workforce.  In Texas, an estimated 470,000 young people fall into this category. They are often involved across multiple systems and have complex needs, including barriers such as lack of transportation, childcare responsibilities, housing instability, and limited access to mental health services. Meanwhile, especially in rural areas of Texas, health care systems are in desperate need of more health care workers. Young people, with the proper support and training, could fill the need for this growing industry, improving the provision of healthcare throughout the state while simultaneously creating stable career pathways that offer living wages and advancement opportunities.  

Currently, OYYA face fragmented support systems as they age out of various state services, often losing critical resources at precisely the moment they need them most to transition into adulthood. The lack of coordinated workforce development strategies specifically designed for this population means Texas is missing a crucial opportunity to address both youth unemployment and healthcare workforce shortages. By leveraging existing interagency partnerships and expanding career pathways in public health, Texas can transform a population often viewed through a deficit lens into a vital component of the state’s healthcare infrastructure.  

Recommendation 1: Expand public health career pipelines to include OYYA through paid apprenticeships, community health worker training, and targeted recruitment partnerships with LWDBs, reentry programs, and CBOs.  

Recommendation 2: Strengthen collaboration and develop interagency transition plans and wraparound supports for OYYA youth aging out of Maternal & Child Health (MCH), foster care, and juvenile systems, ensuring continuity in healthcare, mental health, and vocational services.  

Department of State Health Services

Background:  Opportunity Youth and Young Adults (OYYA), youth who are 16-24 and not in school or employed, represent an untapped potential  workforce.  In Texas, an estimated 470,000 young people fall into this category. They are often involved across multiple systems and have complex needs, including barriers such as lack of transportation, childcare responsibilities, housing instability, and limited access to mental health services. Meanwhile, especially in rural areas of Texas, health care systems are in desperate need of more health care workers. Young people, with the proper support and training, could fill the need for this growing industry, improving the provision of healthcare throughout the state while simultaneously creating stable career pathways that offer living wages and advancement opportunities.  

Currently, OYYA face fragmented support systems as they age out of various state services, often losing critical resources at precisely the moment they need them most to transition into adulthood. The lack of coordinated workforce development strategies specifically designed for this population means Texas is missing a crucial opportunity to address both youth unemployment and healthcare workforce shortages. By leveraging existing interagency partnerships and expanding career pathways in public health, Texas can transform a population often viewed through a deficit lens into a vital component of the state’s healthcare infrastructure.  

Recommendation 1: Expand public health career pipelines to include OYYA through paid apprenticeships, community health worker training, and targeted recruitment partnerships with LWDBs, reentry programs, and CBOs.  

Recommendation 2: Strengthen collaboration and develop interagency transition plans and wraparound supports for OYYA youth aging out of Maternal & Child Health (MCH), foster care, and juvenile systems, ensuring continuity in healthcare, mental health, and vocational services.  

Recommendation 1: Direct HHSC (in collaboration with TWC and THECB) to define and identify postsecondary programs that are “equivalent to SNAP E&T” components to ensure students enrolled in “credentials of value” have their coursework recognized as satisfying SNAP’s work requirements. This will improve completion rates for students and lead to greater self-sufficiency post-credentialing.  

Recommendation 2:  Direct TWC and HHSC to develop and implement standardized contracting and reimbursement models for third-party SNAP E&T providers to be applied across all local workforce development boards & set ambitious goals to scale the number of third-party partners contracted to provide SNAP E&T, with an emphasis on community colleges and other credential-based training providers.  

Recommendation 3:  Require HHSC to align SNAP E&T program requirements with the federal baseline (20 hours per week/80 hours per month) to simplify compliance, reduce administrative complexity, and support more consistent program engagement.  

Recommendation 4:  Develop a statewide SNAP E&T provider dashboard tracking key program metrics, including enrollment, completion, job placement, and job retention. 

Recommendation 3:  Require HHSC to align SNAP E&T program requirements with the federal baseline (20 hours per week/80 hours per month) to simplify compliance, reduce administrative complexity, and support more consistent program engagement.  

Recommendation 4:  Develop a statewide SNAP E&T provider dashboard tracking key program metrics, including enrollment, completion, job placement, and job retention. 

Recommendation 4:  Develop a statewide SNAP E&T provider dashboard tracking key program metrics, including enrollment, completion, job placement, and job retention.