Take Action for Adolescents – A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being

Take Action for Adolescents – A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being acknowledges the diverse experiences of young people ages 10-24 and prioritizes their needs. It promotes the vision that all adolescents in the United States should have the safety, support, and resources they need to thrive, be healthy, and have equitable opportunity to realize their full potential. The Call to Action reflects the idea of the “triple dividend”: investments in adolescent health and well-being lead to health for adolescents now, a healthy adult life, and better health for the next generation.

Take Action for Adolescents is designed to motivate, energize, and inspire anyone who has a role in providing adolescents with the safety, support, and resources they need to thrive during the transition to adulthood. It offers suggestions for policy makers, health care and human service providers and organizations, youth-serving professionals and organizations, parents, legal representatives, caregivers, and researchers. While there are no action steps for adolescents, young people can use Take Action for Adolescents and the Take Action Toolkit to collaborate with other youth and adults in their communities.

The action steps included in the Call to Action are a starting point; they can be tailored and expanded to reflect the needs and priorities of local communities and people who are historically underserved by health care and human services systems. The Call to Action is designed to be a catalyst for allies and partners to create their own strategies to address the needs of the adolescents they serve. The Take Action Toolkit will facilitate that process.

Investment in the diverse health needs of young people is critical, as the number of adolescents in the U.S. is predicted to grow from approximately 64 million in 2023 to approximately 67 million by 2050 and 68 million by 2060. It is critically important that all sectors take action to improve their ability of young people to thrive into adulthood. Implementing the Call to Action will also help improve health outcomes, reduce health disparities, encourage healthy behaviors and lifestyles, and improve health literacy. And it will result in the “triple dividend” of health for adolescents now, a healthy adult life, and better health for the next generation.

Take Action for Adolescents outlines eight goals to achieve the vision that all adolescents in the U.S. should have the safety, support, and resources they need to thrive, be healthy, and have equitable opportunity to realize their full potential. The eight goals are to:

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. 

The Call to Action is not a standalone, one-size-fits-all, or prescriptive solution for the challenges that young people face. Instead, it offers a flexible framework that allies and partners can adapt to their specific context. The action steps are designed to inspire both organizations and individuals to work collaboratively to tailor their efforts to meet community needs. Youth-serving professionals and organizations can work with youth, parents, and others in the community and use Take Action for Adolescents and the Take Action Toolkit to develop solutions that make sense for them.

Take Action for Adolescents is the result of extensive collaboration and input from a diverse group of allies and partners. The HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) worked closely with numerous federal partners through the federal Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP) and its subgroup, the Adolescent Health Action Team. OPA also convened non-governmental allies and partners including researchers, clinicians, state policy staff, advocates, parents and caregivers, as well as community-based, faith-based, and other youth-serving professionals, along with a diverse group of young people who work with adolescent-focused organizations across the U.S. OPA prioritized the voices of young people from the beginning of the process and compensated them for their time. 

Take Action for Adolescents is a Call to Action in service of our nation’s young people. OPA launched this effort to create awareness, deliver guidance, and inspire action among allies and partners across the U.S. OPA will share information, technical and resources to encourage policy makers, youth-serving professionals and organizations, health care and human service providers and organizations, researchers, and parents, legal representatives of young people, and caregivers around the country to customize and implement the action steps that will best benefit the adolescent populations they serve. OPA created the Take Action Toolkit as a resource for those who would like to work collaboratively to tailor elements of the Call to Action to fit their contexts.

There is no funding attached to Take Action for Adolescents. It is intended to motivate and inspire allies and partners to adopt and implement action steps in states and communities. OPA will offer support, some technical assistance, and resources to help allies and partners with progress toward meeting the goals set forth in the Call to Action.

Participation in implementing the action steps in Take Action for Adolescents is completely voluntary. Whether an individual or organization implements the Call to Action does not have any bearing on whether they will receive funding for current or future grants.

OPA has provided the following resources to support implementation.

• Take Action for Adolescents and La Llamada A La Acción: Highlights federal government programs that can provide resources or inspiration. 
• The Take Action Toolkit and El Kit De Herramientas: Shares tips to help select and customize action steps, plan activities, and evaluate progress towards achieving goals.
• Resource List: Includes information and tools that are relevant to all eight Take Action for Adolescents goals.

The Call to Action and Take Action Toolkit have been translated into Spanish.

Take Action for Adolescents is intended to inspire adults to work collaboratively for change that benefits young people. Your agency or organization can use the Call to Action and the accompanying Take Action Toolkit and its resources to tailor the initial action steps to address the needs of young people in your setting and community.

Take Action for Adolescents is focused on improving the health and well-being of young people between the ages of 10 and 24. With this broad definition in mind, some older adolescents may find themselves both as a young person who could use support and as a caring adult in the position to support younger adolescents.

OPA is planning regional meetings with adult and youth allies and partners as part of the implementation of Take Action for Adolescents. OPA hopes to engage with state and local health agencies, community-based organizations and advocates, and parents and young people as part of this effort.

Youth engagement is one of the eight goals of Take Action for Adolescents. OPA plans to include young people in regional engagement meetings and expert panel meetings related to building an adolescent health research agenda.