September 15, 2007
Special Announcement
New Associate Commissioner Takes the Helm of the Family and Youth Services Bureau
Karen Burke Morison began work as the new Associate Commissioner of the Family and Youth Services Bureau on September 10, 2007. Burke Morison brings a wealth of experience to the Associate Commissioner position. She has most recently been the Senior Vice President of Civic Enterprises, LLC, a policy consulting firm. She is the co-author of a landmark study on high school dropouts and the author of The Federal Grants Manual for Youth Programs. She has worked as a key advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina and as an analyst in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition she has extensive media experience including positions as a newspaper reporter, a radio talk show producer, and a TV field producer. Throughout her career she has worked with and around the issues, policies, and programs, both State and Federal, that affect youth and their families.
Employment Opportunities
Abstinence Education Curriculum Reviewer, Medical Accuracy
The Family and Youth Services Bureau is seeking a medical doctor or registered nurse to conduct a review to determine medical accuracy in curricula identified by Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) grant applicants for use in their abstinence education programs. Please direct questions and submit resumes to tbrown@dixongroup.com or fax to (202) 269-9575.
Youth Policy Associate, Abstinence Education
Want to join a wonderful group of dedicated people working to improve conditions for youth? A Youth Policy Associate for Abstinence Education (part time) is needed to review media stories, funding opportunities and relevant research and to compile information and produce materials such as the Abstinence Education e-updates for educators, policymakers, and the public. Good writing and research skills, B.A. degree (M.A. preferred), and experience with abstinence education required. We prefer that the employee work onsite in Silver Spring, but we will consider offsite candidates. Please send resume and salary requirement to HR 1438, JBS, 8630 Fenton St. #1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910; or e-mail to JOBS@JBS.BIZ. EOE.
Abstinence Content Specialist
Assist in the development and implementation of technical assistance modules, conference calls, Web casts, and conferences for CBAE grantees. Candidates must possess a bachelor's degree and a minimum of 7 years of general experience and 2 years of professional program-related experience. To apply, please send your resume to Karen Argueta by e-mail, careers@pal-tech.com, or by fax, (703) 522-2471. EOE/AA.
Media Stories
Like a Virgin? Teens Think So
RH Reality Check, September 10, 2007
Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
The New York Daily News, September 10, 2007
Rise in STDs Hits Teens Hard
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 9, 2007
NOW Sues To Stop Fatherhood Programs
Men's News Daily, September 8, 2007
Program Bolsters Abstinence Intent
The Washington Times, September 5, 2007
Advocates Push Patrick To Accept Federal Abstinence-only Money
Associated Press, September 5, 2007
School Board To Get Schooled in Sex Ed
TheDenverChannel.com (ABC news affiliate), September 5, 2007
Court Order Against Sex Ed Lessons Sought
The Washington Post, September 5, 2007
Concerns Affect DC Condom Giveaway
The Washington Post, September 5, 2007
Group Sees More Sex and Violence in TV Family Hour
Reuters, September 5, 2007
Abstinence Rally Is Educational and Fun
WLOX.com (Mississippi ABC affiliate) September 1, 2007
Board of Education To Look at Pilot Abstinence Program
The El Dorado (KS) Times, August 31, 2007
Sexually Transmitted Wart Virus Ups Mouth Cancers
Reuters.com, August 27, 2007
Funding Opportunities
The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth maintains a listing of organizations identified as potential funding sources for abstinence education programs. The listing includes grant descriptions and contact information.
Parenting Capacities and Health Outcomes in Youths and Adolescents (R21) – National Institutes of Health (Cycle III)
Grant recipients will increase the skills and capacities of parents and caregivers to improve the health outcomes of their young and adolescent children. This includes interventions that help parents to decrease risk behaviors, including sexual behaviors, in their children and to build protective factors. Deadlines for applications: October 16, 2007, and November 5, 2007
Recent Research
The Influence of Parents' Marital Relationship and Women's Status on Children's Age at First Sex in Cebu, Phillippines. (September 2007)
The authors of this article, published in Studies in Family Planning [Volume 38(3):173-186], analyzed longitudinal data for 1,661 mothers and their children in two waves, first when the youth were between the ages of 9 and 11, and again when they were between 20 and 25. The authors found that when parents share in family decisionmaking, sons delay first sex, and when mothers have "higher status" in the household, daughters delay first sex.
Impacts of the Heritage Keepers Life Skills Education Component: Final Report (Mathematica Policy Research, September 2007)
The authors examined the effect of the life skills component of the Heritage Keepers abstinence education program on middle and high school students in Edgefield, South Carolina. They found that the component had positive impacts on several intermediate outcomes that are believed to mediate teen sexual activity: support of abstinence; disapproval of teen sex; stronger refusal skills; and greater expectation to abstain until marriage. And, while high school youth in both the abstinence education and control groups reported similar rates of sexual abstinence, number of sexual partners, and age at first sex, the authors hypothesized that the attitudinal changes among middle school students "might have eventual positive impacts on sexual abstinence for youth in this cohort." The authors also observed that "[r]ates of abstinence among both groups are higher than both the national average and the state average for South Carolina."
Upcoming Events
National Abstinence Education Grantees Conference
January 28–30, 2008
Baltimore, MD
Registration TBA
Contact: abstinence@pal-tech.com
Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
CBAE grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 5 through 7
April 2–3, 2008
Dallas, TX
Registration TBA
For information, contact abstinence@pal-tech.com
Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
CBAE grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 8 through 10
May 14–15, 2008
Denver, CO
Registration TBA
For information, contact abstinence@pal-tech.com
Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
CBAE grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 1 through 4
June 23–24, 2008
Philadelphia, PA
Registration TBA
For information, contact abstinence@pal-tech.com
Other News/Misc.
The Abstinence Clearinghouse Survey on Best Practices
This online survey helps organizations evaluate their abstinence education programs in light of best practices for working with high-risk youth.
YouthNetwork.org
This new Web site allows individuals to locate youth programs and services in communities across the country. The online database is searchable by name, location, and keyword. Programs may add a listing to the resource at no charge.
Quote for the Day
"Schools and social workers should be free to endorse the medical and sociological truth about the value of abstinence – because this is about truth, after all, not ideology."
(Ellen Curtain, The Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer, June 28, 2007) |
