April 30, 2008

Media Stories

Study: Divorce, Unwed Parenting Costs Billions
Msnbc.com, April 15, 2008

Typical Unwed Mother Is Not a Teen, Study Says
Boston Globe, April 15, 2008

County Tries To Prevent Risky Prom Night Behavior
Harold (WI) Times Reporter, April 10, 2008

Studies Disagree on Sex Ed, Abstinence
Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette, April 8, 2008

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.

FYSB Announces Availability of CBAE Funds
The Family and Youth Services Bureau is currently accepting applications for the Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) program for Fiscal Year 2008.
Application deadline: June 2, 2008
 
Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy in Community Colleges
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy plans to award three 2-year grants to organizations that develop and assess various ways to reduce unplanned pregnancy among community college students, with a primary focus on unmarried women and men in their twenties.
Deadline for application: June 16, 2008

Recent Research

Older Sexual Partners During Adolescence: Links to Reproductive Health Outcomes in Young Adulthood (2008) (full text available to subscribers only) – This study, published in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health [Volume 40 (1):17-26], examined whether individuals who had had sex before age 16 with a partner at least 3 years older were at increased risk of becoming teenage or unmarried parents or of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by early adulthood. Among male teens, those who have sex before age 16 are twice as likely to acquire an STD as those who delay first sex, regardless of partner age difference. Female teens who have sex with older partners are more likely to acquire an STD and to have a nonmarital birth in young adulthood than females with a partner who is similar in age. Male and female teens who have a greater number of sexual partners have a greater risk of a nonmarital birth by young adulthood.

A Matched Case-Control Study: Investigating the Relationship between Youth Assets and Sexual Intercourse among 13- to 14-year-olds (2007) (full text available for purchase) – In this study, published in Child: Care, Health and Development [Volume 33(1): 40-45], researchers discovered that 13 and 14 year olds were less likely to engage in sexual activity if they had positive peer role models and religious influence. These findings are similar to other studies that indicate both parents and teens find these two factors to be most important when delaying sexual activity.

Which Comes First in Adolescence - Sex and Drugs or Depression? (2005) – The authors of this article, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine [Volume 29 (3): 163-170], discovered that adolescent sex and drug behavior may cause the development of adolescent depressive disorders. For females, even modest involvement in sexual experimentation and substance use increased depression risk. For males, binge drinking and frequent use of marijuana contributed to depression. Researchers suggest that at-risk girls should receive counseling on sexual decision-making and cessation skills.

Other News/Misc.

Weatherproofing Your Agency Against Financial Storms
Abstinence education providers need diverse sources of funding and a plan for staying in business in the event they lose funding from any one source. The latest edition of the Family and Youth Service Bureau’s newsletter, the Exchange, is a three-part series on sustainability. Part I: Secrets of the Fundraising World includes The Secret Life of Foundation Officers, as Told by Lee Draper and Test Your Knowledge of Fundraising Terms: A Quiz

The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and all 50 States – High rates of family fragmentation impose extraordinary costs on taxpayers. Reducing these costs is a concern of government, policy makers, and legislators, as well as civic leaders and faith communities.

A Scientific Review of Abstinence and Abstinence Programs (February 2008) (PDF, 354 KB) – The review explores the environmental and individual consequences of abstaining from sex until marriage. It offers an overview of the medical and scientific literature on abstinence, abstinence education, sexual behavior, and sex education.

Twenty-Six Conclusions from Why Marriage Matters
This fact sheet summarizes research from the Why Marriage Matters study for use by educators, grantees, parents, and other professionals who are interested in understanding the importance of marriage for families and society.
 
African American Healthy Marriage Initiatives
The African American Healthy Marriage Initiative (AAHMI) educates communities, develops partnerships, and identifies resources that support the formation and stability of healthy marriages and families in African-American communities.

Building Strong Families Video
Building Strong Families (BSF) develops and evaluates programs designed to help interested unwed parents achieve healthy marriages. BSF produced a 10-minute video outreach tool to illustrate how the program works and to engage the interest of potential program funders or community partners.

Guidelines for Effective School Health Education to Prevent the Spread of AIDS
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has highlighted the need for abstinence education in school health guidelines.

Upcoming Events

An Abstinence Educator’s Guide: Marrying the Abstinence and Marriage Message Conference Call
May 1, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
Registration

Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
CBAE grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 1 through 4
June 23–24, 2008
Philadelphia, PA
Registration
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’s legislation, policy, and specific State features related to abstinence education.

MARYLAND

What’s Interesting in the State of Maryland
Maryland's Center for Maternal and Child Health (CMCH) administers the Maryland Abstinence Education and Coordination Program (MAECP). MAECP partners with the University of Maryland School of Social Work to provide training, professional development, parent and community education, and youth-oriented conferences throughout the State. Grants are awarded to local health departments to establish partnerships with groups such as local schools and community and faith-based organizations in 14 of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions to promote sexual abstinence. These programs teach “abstinence only” principles using curricula approved by CMCH and promote activities that support Positive Youth Development.  Programs are offered in a variety of settings including after-school programs, public housing sites, and recreation centers.

There are also three CBAE grantees in Maryland.

State Law in Maryland
Maryland currently has a draft voluntary health education curriculum, which includes voluntary Family Life and Human Sexuality standards available for adoption by each of the State’s 24 independent school districts. The draft standards identify abstinence as a healthy, safe, and responsible decision for middle school students. The high school curriculum standards include a discussion of the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships, human reproduction, and sexual decisionmaking. The draft standards promote sexual abstinence as the most effective and healthy means for preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. 

Comprehensive school health education includes instruction that complies with the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). While the State has not formally adopted standards for health education, required goals and subgoals for a skills-based comprehensive health education program are detailed in Regulation 13A.04.18.02. Regulation 13A.04.18.03 expands on the family life education portion of the previous regulation. Under these two regulations, schools are "to recognize the family as a basic unit of society that perpetuates life and promotes healthy growth and development." Students are to "acquire knowledge of disease and methods for prevention and control and to analyze their effects on the individual, family, and society." Regulation 13A.04.18.04 requires instruction in HIV at least once in each grade range 3 to 6, 6 to 9, and 9 to 12.

What’s Unique in the State of Maryland
MAECP collaborates with the University of Maryland School of Social Work, after-school programs, and other community-based groups to promote sexual abstinence among Maryland youth. MAECP targets preteens and teens between the ages of 9 to 19 living in jurisdictions with high rates of teen births. Program components include a multimedia abstinence campaign, professional development, youth conferences, and workshops for parents/caregivers. 

MASSACHUSETTS

What’s Interesting in the State of Massachusetts
The goal of the Massachusetts Abstinence Education Program, which operates under the Department of Public Health, is to significantly increase the number of youth, and particularly Black and Hispanic youth, who remain abstinent outside of marriage. Its four objectives are to:

• Increase self-esteem, pride, and a sense of future self-sufficiency in adolescents
• Increase youth’s ability to avoid peer pressure and unhealthy and abusive relationships
• Educate youth about the association between alcohol and other substances in relationship to sexual assault and the ability to remain abstinent
• Help parents to instill positive values and set clear limits and behavioral expectations for their children

State Law in Massachusetts
In 1999, the Massachusetts Department of Education developed the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework, a planned, sequential curriculum that addresses Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences in prekindergarten through grade 12. By 12th grade, students should be able to:

• Explain the benefits of abstinence, postponing sexual behavior, and setting limits on sexual behavior
• Describe short- and long-term consequences of sexuality-related risk behaviors and identify barriers and supports for making health-enhancing decisions
• Describe the effectiveness and consequences of various pregnancy, HIV, and STI prevention methods, including abstinence
• Explain the importance of communication and setting limits in a sexual relationship
• Identify and distinguish among types and degrees of sexual risk (pregnancy, sexual assault, STIs, including HIV/AIDS)

What’s Unique in the State of Massachusetts
One Boston-based program teaches teens about human sexuality, the benefits of abstinence, healthy relationships, and self-respect through interactive skits and demonstrations. The program empowers teens to avoid the social, psychological, and health consequences of early sexual activity and provides the skills necessary to attain abstinence before marriage. The program contains a parent, teen, and peer mentor component and reaches teens and parents through their Web sites.

Quote of the Day

“As a group of more than 2,000 physicians who deal daily with the ravages of STDs and teen pregnancy, we see a simple solution: abstinence until marriage with an uninfected partner and monogamy thereafter. This is the lifetime prescription for optimal sexual health. Groups that attempt to discredit abstinence until marriage as a religious message apparently ignore a vast body of science.”

(Dr. John R. Diggs, Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette, April 8, 2008)