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Pure Health peer‑education program trains juvenile detainees as health leaders, county says
Summary
The county presented Pure Health, a peer health education program for justice‑involved youth in detention, describing co‑created curriculum, a trusted‑messenger model, and evaluation results showing improved retention of health topics; the program was one of two CSAC Challenge Award winners.
County health staff told the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors that Pure Health trains justice‑involved youth to become peer health educators inside juvenile detention facilities, blending medically rigorous content with activity‑based learning co‑created by youth leaders.
Dr. Shelly Agarwal, the medical director for juvenile custody health services, described the program’s rationale and outcomes during the awards presentation: “We built an activity based health curriculum that was refined with direct feedback from a group of youth leaders. These leaders then taught the curriculum to their peers,” she said, and added that the program had worked with about 30 youth leaders to date. Agarwal also framed Pure Health as a departure from traditional top‑down models in detention health and said, “As far as we know, this is the 1st program of its kind in any youth detention facility in the country.”
According to the presentation, the model is anchored in a trusted‑messenger approach and seeks to bridge youth to clinical services without replacing them. County staff said evaluations showed youth had better understanding and retention of health topics and that youth leaders reported stronger communication and public‑speaking skills. The board recognized the program with a CSAC Challenge Award; no budgetary actions or new policy directives were recorded during the meeting.
