December 18, 2007

Employment Opportunities

Abstinence Content Specialist
Assist in the development and implementation of technical assistance modules, conference calls, Web casts, and conferences for Abstinence Education 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

Adolescent Shares Personal Story of Pregnancy
National Public Radio, December 11, 2007

Teaching Youth Whole-Life Skills
The Washington Post, December 6, 2007

Adolescent Births Rise for the First Time Since 1991
USA Today, December 5, 2007

Adolescent Birth Rate Rises for First Time in 15 Years
Centers for Disease Control, December 5, 2007

Virginia Is for Adolescent Lovers?
National Review, December 3, 2007

Single Women Gave Birth to Over Half the State's Babies in 2005 (viewing of free ad required)
Albuquerque (NM) Journal, December 2, 2007

Scientists Say Adolescent Brain Still Maturing, Key to Behavior
Daily (IL) Herald, December 2, 2007

Should the State Continue To Fund Abstinence?
The Fredericksburg (VA) Free Lance-Star, November 30, 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.

The Interaction of HIV, Drug Use, and the Criminal Justice System (R01) – National Institutes for Health
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes for Health will award four to six grants to eligible institutions and organizations that link drug abuse prevention and HIV/AIDS prevention in the criminal justice setting.
Deadline for letters of intent: January 27, 2008
Deadline for applications: February 27, 2008

El Pomar Foundation’s Anna Keesling Ackerman Fund (Colorado’s Pikes Peak Region, primarily El Paso County)
The fund offers grants for the arts and humanities, education, health, human services, and civic and community initiatives. Applications accepted on an ongoing basis. Grant requests are reviewed and submitted during trustee meetings. The next trustee meeting is February 20, 2008.

Adolph Coors Foundation Grants (Colorado)
The foundation offers grants to nonprofit organizations that address one of four areas of interest, including health, particularly prevention programs, and youth, community, and human services. Applications accepted on an ongoing basis.

The RGK Foundation (nationwide)
The foundation awards grants for education, community development (including human services and youth development), and medicine and health. The foundation is interested in programs that serve children and families, promote early childhood development, or provide parenting education. Applicants must complete an electronic letter of inquiry form (no more than one letter of inquiry per year). Letters of inquiry are reviewed throughout the year. The foundation notifies applicants within 2 weeks if it is willing to consider a formal proposal.

Recent Research

Going Most of the Way: “Technical Virginity” Among American Adolescents (2008)
In this article to be published by Social Science Research in 2008, the authors begin by discussing previous studies that suggest young people, particularly girls, substitute non-vaginal sexual activities, such as oral sex, for vaginal intercourse to preserve their “technical virginity.” The results suggest that religious adolescents are less likely than their less religious peers to choose non-vaginal sex over abstinence from all sexual activity. In addition, adolescent virgins who take abstinence pledges are as likely to substitute non-vaginal sex for intercourse as adolescent virgins who do not pledge. The researchers found that for adolescents who had not had vaginal sex, religion and morality were the weakest motivators for substituting non-vaginal sex for intercourse. They conclude that fear of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are a more common reason for wanting to preserve technical virginity.

Upcoming Events

National Abstinence Education Grantees Conference
January 28–30, 2008
Bethesda, MD
Deadline for registration is December 21, 2007
Contact: abstinence@pal-tech.com

Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 5 through 7
April 2–3, 2008
Dallas, TX
Registration: TBA
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
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
Contact: abstinence@pal-tech.com

Spotlight

The Abstinence Education E-Update Spotlight has highlighted various topics, from new Federal staff to effective State programs. Now, NCFY will highlight two States a month, looking at each State or the District’s legislation, policy, and specific State or the District’s features related to abstinence education. In particular, the Spotlight will underscore key points pertaining to abstinence education in each State’s or in the District’s law.

COLORADO

What’s Happening in the State of Colorado
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, in collaboration with the State’s Office of the Governor, is responsible for Colorado’s Title V abstinence education funds. Eight community-based sub-grantees receive Title V funding. The State also has one Adolescent Family Life Act grantee and one Community Based Abstinence Education grantee.
 
State Law in Colorado
Colorado schools are not required to teach sexuality education. However, according to State law, curricula and materials used to teach sexuality and human reproduction must include instruction on “values and responsibility.” (See Colorado Statutes 22-25-104, 22-25-106, and 22-25-110.) In May 2007, Colorado’s governor signed into law House Bill 1292, which requires sexuality programs to be medically accurate.

What’s Working in the State of Colorado
Adolescent Health in Colorado, 2003 includes a chapter on healthy adolescent sexuality. The chapter looks at the factors that contribute to risky adolescent sexual behavior, State trends, and strategies and best practices for prevention efforts, including the roles parents, schools, and communities can play.

One Colorado abstinence program traveled across several cities in Colorado, in a specially designed abstinence minivan, creating understanding and support for abstinence events among parents and adolescents.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

What’s Happening in the District of Columbia
The District has one Adolescent Family Life Act grant, held by the Washington, DC, chapter of Concerned Black Men, which runs peer leadership, mentoring, and educational programs in local schools and communities.

District of Columbia Law
District of Columbia public schools must provide comprehensive health education, including instruction on human sexuality and reproduction. The lessons, taught in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, must be age-appropriate.

Quote of the Day

“The bottom line is this: the erosion of the norm of premarital sexual abstinence, both in belief and behavior, has had serious emotional and physical consequences for our Nation’s teens—especially young women.”

(University of Virginia sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox, National Review, December 3, 2007)