The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) was awarded a $464,698 Formula Grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families under the Title V State Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (Title V State SRAE) Program (CFDA 93.235). The award, effective October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2026, will enable MDH to implement sexual risk avoidance education programming through partnerships with local health departments, community organizations, and...
The Maryland Department of Health received a $1.75 million formula grant award from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Personal Responsibility Education Program. The purpose of this program is to support projects that educate youth ages 10-19 and pregnant/parenting youth under 21 on abstinence and contraception to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. With this funding, the Maryland...
This federal Formula Grant award of $351,254.00 was provided by the Administration on Children Youth and Families (ACYF), a civilian agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The grant was awarded on October 1, 2024 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), CFDA 93.092. The purpose of this PREP grant is to support projects that educate youth aged 10-19 and pregnant/parenting youth under 21 on abstinence and contraception to...
This Cooperative Agreement award of $340,000.00 was made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children Youth and Families under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Personal Responsibility Education Program (CFDA 93.092). The award to Child Trends, Incorporated, a non-profit research organization, will support the development, replication, refinement, and testing of innovative strategies for preventing teenage pregnancy. The project will provide comprehensive sexual...
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded a $2,500,000 Cooperative Agreement under the "Cooperative Agreements to Promote Adolescent Health through School-Based HIV/STD Prevention and School-Based Surveillance" program (CFDA 93.079) to Education Training & Research Associates (ETR), a non-profit organization headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. This 5-year award, effective September 30, 2024, will support ETR in implementing the "What Works in...
This Project Grant award from the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Personal Responsibility Education Program (CFDA 93.092), provides $1,493,634.00 to James Madison University to deliver culturally responsive, trauma-aware, and neurobiologically informed mentorship interventions aimed at improving health and reducing disparities over the project period from September 30, 2024 to September 29, 2027. The award supports the SEXEDVA - Personal...
The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families awarded a $182,766 Formula Grant under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Personal Responsibility Education Program (CFDA 93.092) to the Arkansas Department of Health. This grant supports comprehensive sexual health education and youth development services for adolescents aged 10-19 and pregnant or parenting youth under 21, with the goal of preventing teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS. The...
The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) received a Project Grant award of $680,000 under the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund (MHAF) program (CFDA 93.899) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' HIV/AIDS Bureau. This 4-year award, effective September 30, 2024 through September 29, 2028, aims to improve HIV-related health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority populations in Maryland. Specifically, the MDH project will design, implement, and evaluate a multi-level, syndemic intervention...
The federal Project Grant award "EMPOWERING YOUTH 2.0" provides $445,500.00 in funding from the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) program (CFDA 93.060). The award, with a performance period from September 30, 2024 to September 29, 2027, supports the non-profit organization Child & Family Resources Inc. in Tucson, Arizona to deliver evidence-based sexual...
This federal Project Grant award of $1,500,000 was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Personal Responsibility Education Program (CFDA 93.092). The grant aims to support comprehensive sexual health education and youth development services for adolescents aged 10-19 and pregnant or parenting youth under 21 in order to prevent teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS. The primary...
TRUE YOU MARYLAND: REDUCING TEEN BIRTH RATES, STI RATES, AND INEQUITIES IN RURAL MARYLAND - THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (MDH), IN COLLABORATION WITH HEALTHY TEEN NETWORK, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, AND STATE AND COUNTY PARTNERS, AIMS TO ADDRESS HEALTH INEQUITIES AMONG YOUTH IN RURAL COMMUNITIES WITH HISTORICALLY HIGH ADOLESCENT BIRTH AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTION (STI) RATES BY REPLICATING EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAMS (EBPS) IN MULTIPLE SETTINGS AND WITH MULTIPLE AGE GROUPS. THROUGH THE TRUE YOU MARYLAND (TYMD) INITIATIVE (FORMERLY THE MARYLAND OPTIMAL ADOLESCENT HEALTH PROGRAM), WE HAVE WORKED CLOSELY WITH COUNTY PARTNERS OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS TO ESTABLISH AND ENHANCE ADOLESCENT SEXUAL HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE IN 2 REGIONS, NORTHWESTERN MARYLAND AND THE EASTERN SHORE, THAT COMPRISE 6 MARYLAND (MD) COUNTIES WITH HIGH TEEN BIRTH RATES THROUGH THE CREATION OF LOCAL YOUTH ADVISORY BOARDS (YABS); THE INTEGRATION OF THE EVIDENCE-BASED, COMPREHENSIVE POSITIVE PREVENTION PLUS (3P) CURRICULUM INTO 4 LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS; AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OVER 120 EVENTS INCLUDING COMMUNITY OUTREACH, INFORMATION SESSIONS, YOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICE, STI TESTING, FOOD PANTRIES, AND PARENT WORKSHOPS. WE HAVE COLLABORATED WITH OVER 100 PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS TYMD COUNTIES, ENGAGED OVER 4,100 YOUTH, 230 CAREGIVERS, AND 4,500 COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AND REACHED OVER 2,000 YOUTH WITH EBPS. WE PLAN TO EXPAND THIS REACH TO 6,245 YOUNG PEOPLE ANNUALLY THROUGH MULTI-SESSION EBPS IN ADDITIONAL MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS (CBOS), AND SINGLE-SESSION EBPS IN SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CENTERS (SBHCS) AND FAMILY PLANNING CLINICS. TYMD WILL UTILIZE AN EVIDENCE-BASED AND SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO PLANNING, IMPLEMENTATION, EVALUATION, AND SUSTAINABILITY; IMPLEMENT EBPS PROVEN TO POSITIVELY INFLUENCE SEXUAL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS, CLINICS, AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS; LEVERAGE CLINICAL CONNECTIONS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO SEXUAL HEALTH SERVICES; APPLY A SYSTEMS-THINKING APPROACH TO STRENGTHEN INTERSECTIONS AND NETWORKS; AND ENGAGE YOUTH, PARENTS AND TRUSTED ADULTS TO, ULTIMATELY, CENTER THEIR VOICE IN OUR WORK AND MOVE CLOSER TO OPTIMAL HEALTH. THE PROJECT COMPONENTS WERE SELECTED TO IMPACT THE FACTORS THAT PUT YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK FROM TEEN PREGNANCY AND STIS BY IMPLEMENTING IN SETTINGS THAT OFFER THE GREATEST REACH, INCLUDE THE MOST MARGINALIZED YOUTH, AND OFFER CONNECTIONS TO CRITICAL RESOURCES AND PARTNERS. REPLICATION OF EBPS WILL BE AT THE CENTER OF THIS WORK, SUPPORTED BY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUPPORT SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES. TYMD CHOSE SCHOOLS, CBOS, AND CLINICS FOR EBP IMPLEMENTATION BASED ON THEIR ABILITY TO REACH YOUNG PEOPLE WHERE THEY LIVE, LEARN, WORK AND PLAY, THE SETTINGS' CAPACITIES TO IMPLEMENT PROGRAMS, AND THE FIT OF POTENTIAL EBPS. WITH SCHOOLS AS THE CENTERPIECE OF OUR APPROACH, THE ADDITIONAL IMPLEMENTATION SETTINGS WILL SERVE YOUTH WHERE SCHOOLS DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE THE CAPACITY TO IMPLEMENT TO SCALE AND HAVE THE ADDED BENEFIT OF REACHING YOUTH WITH COMPOUNDING RISK FACTORS.