Teen pregnancy prevention program - youthrise (responsibility, integrity, self-control = empowerment) - need for the project: aiming for healthy families (afhf) is a community-based, non-profit…

Teen pregnancy prevention program - youthrise (responsibility, integrity, self-control = empowerment) - need for the project: aiming for healthy families (afhf) is a community-based, non-profit organization that proposes to implement a teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) and positive youth development program (PYD). For 20 years, afhf has served thousands of youth to promote prevention initiatives. The project name is youth rise (responsibility, integrity, self-control = empowerment). The project will serve vulnerable youth in rural and under-served counties in the northeast corner of mississippi (MS): LEE, prentiss, and pontotoc. In these target counties nearly a quarter (22%) of the youth live in poverty, compared to 17% nationally. All three counties have high school dropout rates that exceed the nation's 6%: LEE-9%, prentiss-9 % and pontotoc- 9.2%. Specific to teen sexual behaviors, MS ranks #1 out of 50 states with the highest teen birth rates and #12 for the most sexually active youth. All project target counties have teen birth rates (per 1,000) that exceed the national rate of 16.7. Two of the counties have birth rates that nearly double, while one county has a birth rate that more than doubles the nation: LEE (30.6), and prentiss (29.8) and pontotoc (40.5). MS ranks as #1 having the highest STD rate in the nation. Proposed services: the goal of youth rise is to reduce teen pregnancies and stds/HIV by educating youth on how to voluntarily refrain from risky sexual activity. The youth rise program seeks to implement the four key elements of a TPP scale-up project that are critical for an effective TPP program: 1) evidence based 2) community mobilization 3) referrals to other services 4) safe and supportive environments. The project focuses on addressing risk factors at the youth, family, and community level. High school youth will receive 10 hours of proposed love notes 4.0 SRA EBP (LN) and/or mind matters curriculum with inclusive PYD activities. Both curricula are evidence based and include healthy relationship skills training. Families/caregivers will be engaged in 60 minutes of parent support education to strengthen family communication. Project community mobilization activities will be utilized to strengthen capacity within the target communities. A qualified evaluation team will work with afhf staff to collect, track, and monitor performance measure data and evaluate fidelity, quality and progress toward project goals and objectives. Target population: the project will serve 850 youth, annually, in LEE, prentiss and pontotoc counties through a partnership with five school districts: baldwyn, booneville, LEE, prentiss, and pontotoc and other unique settings: adolescent residential treatment center, faith-based organization, community mental health organization serving adolescents and juvenile detention center/youth court. The project targets youth ages 14-18 in grades 9-12. Youth of all races and ethnicities will participate with an estimated 30% being minority ethnicities. At least 85 families/caregivers of project youth will participate in activities annually.