For Immediate Release: October 25, 2021
Contact: Iman Karnabi, ikarnabi@ncsddc.org, 336-830-2493

Washington, D.C. – The National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) and Child Trends, in partnership with the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), is excited to announce the launch of a brand-new website dedicated to facilitating interactive virtual trainings and sharing resources for the Leadership Exchange for Adolescent Health Promotion (LEAHP) participants. LEAHP works with leaders at state education agencies, state health departments, and other school health stakeholders to build their capacity to collaborate, review policies and data related to school health, and improve policy and practice. Funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, LEAHP aims to support states in making research-informed decisions around adolescents’ access to sexual health services, safe and supportive environments, and sexual health education through multi-sector, state-level leadership teams.

The website is designed to serve as a hub for LEAHP state teams to immediately access professional development trainings, resources, and events. Participation in the virtual LEAHP trainings creates collaborative and peer-to-peer learning opportunities for state leadership teams to share successes, challenges, innovations, and questions on improving adolescent health policy.

“We are excited to provide an enhanced experience for our state teams to collaborate and for other visitors who are interested in improving adolescent sexual health at the state level to learn more about LEAHP,” says, Christy Altidor, Director, Adolescent Health Policy with NCSD.

“The website is a great opportunity to reach stakeholders working in support of adolescent health in schools and fulfill LEAHP’s mission to get adolescents access to the resources they need to make informed decisions about their sexual health,” says Kaylor Garcia, a Health Communications Specialist at Child Trends.

“LEAHP state teams continue to make notable progress towards meeting the needs of their schools and communities while responding to a global pandemic. States have worked diligently these last 18 months to provide stakeholders with data, best practices, and tools in an easily accessible virtual format. In that vein, we are pleased to announce the launch of a new website that provides LEAHP participants with professional development resources and cross-state collaboration opportunities to help them achieve their state goals,” says Megan Blanco, Director of Safe and Healthy Schools at the National Association of State Boards of Education.

To learn more about LEAHP and opportunities for getting involved contact info@leahp.org. Explore the new website at leahp.org.

The development of this resource was supported in part by cooperative agreement CDC-RFA-PS18-1807 with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The opinions, findings, and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views or official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.