November 2023 | Volume 9, Issue 1 |
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APP Mission
To work in partnership with funded states, territories, Tribes, and communities to prevent adolescent pregnancy, STIs, HIV/AIDS, non-marital sexual activity, and other risky behaviors through engagement, empowerment, and holistic education.
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Recent months have brought many new and exciting developments to the Division of Positive Youth Development, Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (APP) Programs. In order to lift-up the incredible work being done by all APP programs and honor the deep history of focusing our work on positive youth development, the Division of Optimal Adolescent Development was renamed as the Division of Positive Youth Development (DPYD) and will continue to administer the APP Programs. The 2023 APP Grantee Conference welcomed over 650+ attendees to Atlanta, GA for the first in-person conference in three years. Grant review season came on fast and furious with 250 grant applications being reviewed across three funding streams. On that note, APP sends our gracious appreciation to the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) Program, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) for helping us effectively and efficiently complete this very busy grant review season.
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In other news across the Family & Youth Services Bureau, don’t miss the opportunity to visit RHY’s new National Clearinghouse on Homeless Youth and Families website. And, if you’re looking for the NEW Office of Family Violence and Prevention Services, you’ll find them realigned under the Administration for Children & Families, in the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary. The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program is excited to welcome and congratulate our new staff members, and all new and incumbent grantees. We look forward to the opportunity to see you all at upcoming site visits, topical training, and other activities. Finally, thank you grantees for your continued commitment to the well-being of youth and families in your communities. We hope you enjoy perusing this newsletter to see what else is going on in the APP Program.
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Season 2 is here! The Elevate Youth Programming Podcast |
Season 2 of the Elevate Youth Programming podcast is now available! If you haven’t yet, check out this 10-episode podcast series that offers Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (APP) providers and other youth-serving agencies opportunities to hear from experts in the field on thought-provoking topics about enhancing their work with youth. The initiative addresses best practices and provides tips and strategies to strengthen programming activities. The podcast is hosted by Dr. Kineka J Hull and produced by Luaren Mangum.
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TPPER Adds Two PREP Programs to
Evidence-Based Models
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IYKYK, but if you don’t, you may be asking, “What’s TPPER?” (nothing like acronym soup to pique your interest, right…). The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review (TPPER) is used to, “identify programs with evidence of effectiveness in reducing teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and associated sexual risk behaviors.” With only 52 program models having met the criteria, FYSB is excited to say that two Cohort 2 PREIS grantees are now among them. Find out who and learn more about the programs. |
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Resources for Populations Served by the Administration for Children & Families Programs
In a recent Administration for Children & Families (ACF) Family Room blog we learn about a set of resource guides recently published on the ACF website. Check out these guides to see how they can help various populations of ACF program participants, prospective participants, and their communities, understand the array of programs and resources that may be able to assist them in a concise and easy-to-digest way.
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Other than English, what language do your program participants speak?
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Youth with Lived Experience Make Learning
More Educational
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Sexual health education has been a hot topic of late. Not only because of the sensitive subjects of sexuality and gender identity, but also because it’s always been challenging to launch into conversations with young people about sexual behaviors, reproductive organs, STIs, consent, and other similar areas. Plus, just, ahhh…adults. The Cook Inlet Tribal Council, a Tribal PREP grantee in Alaska is taking a different approach, incorporating individuals with lived experience (and some special training) to teach others. Find out how their peer educators broach the subject with fun, laughter, and…costumes? |
Leveraging 2 FYSB Grant Programs to
Strengthen Program Outcomes
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Pacific Youth and Community Development (PYCD) serves the youth of American Samoa through two Family & Youth Services Bureau grant programs. They have been a Runaway Homeless Youth (RHY) Program grantee since 2019 and an Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (APP) grantee since 2021. PYCD tells us they’ve found that providing services through the RHY Basic Center Program prepared them to more effectively implement the General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Program (GD SRAE) program. It facilitated better responses to the various needs expressed by youth participants including those experiencing challenges at home and situations that required crisis intervention. Read the full story. |
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Interested in learning about FYSB’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Program and the National Clearinghouse on Homeless Youth and Families (NCHYF)?
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Youth-Focused News, Resources & Engagement |
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We Think Twice™ Contests Boost Followers & Engagement
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Do you know about We Think Twice™—DO THE TEENS YOU WORK WITH? The We Think Twice movement is a digital media campaign designed with teens to help them live their best lives and promote positive youth development.
Did you know they’ve hosted a series of social media contests over the last two+ years? And participation and results have been spectacular!
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• Mental Health and Well-Being: Teach youth about self-care, improving their mental
• health and well-being, and reducing risk-taking behaviors.
• Building Healthy Relationships: Help teens develop safe and healthy relationships!
• Media Literacy: Teach youth how to identify healthy and unhealthy messages in the
• media related to sex, dating, and relationships.
• Being Tech-Smart: Encourage youth to think twice about how they use digital •
• technology and the impact it can have on their mental health and safety.
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Promoting Parent-Teen Connectedness and Authoritative Parenting will help grantees and other youth-serving providers understand the impact of parenting styles on the development and behavior of youth so they can help parents establish the kind of relationship with their adolescents that protects against risk and promotes a healthy transition to adulthood.
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October 2023 - December 2023
October 2023
• Indigenous Peoples Day, October 10
November 2023
• National Adoption Month
• Native American Heritage Month
December 2023
• World AIDS Day, December 1
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Have suggestions for or comments about this newsletter? Let us know here.
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The Family and Youth Services Bureau’s (FYSB) Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (APP) Program within the Administration for Children and Families administers the Personal Responsibility Education Program and the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program. FYSB funds states, Tribes, and community-based organizations throughout the nation and in several U.S. territories to target teen pregnancy prevention and sexual risk avoidance services to the most vulnerable populations of youth. APP grantees take a holistic approach to implementing evidence-based sexual risk avoidance, abstinence, and contraceptive models to prevent pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS and other risky behaviors. Additionally, program participants are provided adulthood preparation skills training and other youth development programming that supports healthy transitions to adulthood while addressing risky behaviors. Learn more about the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program.
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Family and Youth Services Bureau
Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program
330 C St. SW
Washington, D.C. 20201
Copyright 2021 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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![We Think Twice (WTT[TM]) logo](https://files.constantcontact.com/11633463801/ec74d648-3b25-4881-b99a-d7966cb9472b.png)
