Abstinence Education E-Update banner with images of the U.S. flag and youth. Media Stories Resources Recent Research Upcoming Events Know your CBAE contractors Spotlight

The Abstinence Education E-Update is a free information service of the Division of Abstinence Education of the HHS/ACF Family and Youth Services Bureau, provided by the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth. Contact NCFY at (301) 608-8098 or ncfy@acf.hhs.gov. If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail, please click here to view a version of it on the Web.

August 5, 2009

Media Stories

Teen Pregnancy May Be Symptom, Not Cause, of Emotional Distress
Health Behavior News Service, July 27, 2009

Report: Poor Teens at Higher Risk for STDs, Pregnancies
Press-Enterprise (CA), July 26, 2009

Teens Spread Word about Abstinence
Akron Beacon-Journal, July 26, 2009

The Case for Maintaining Abstinence Education Funding
Heritage Foundation, July 24, 2009

Physician Battles Teen Pregnancies
San Antonio Express-News, July 24, 2009

Teen Pregnancy: An Epidemic in Foster Care
Time, July 22, 2009

Pregnancy, STDs on the Rise Again Among U.S. Teens
Office of Minority Health, July 16, 2009

Youth Spotlight

Kate Harris

Photograph of Kate Harris.

I wear a t-shirt around campus that has "The Abstinator" on it. I get asked what it is, and when I tell them I am promoting abstinence, they think it's either crazy or funny. I get made fun of a lot, but at least it's a chance for me to promote an abstinence lifestyle to other people. It may not sink in right away, but they hear you.

I got involved in The Ridge Project in high school. I was kinda reserved and laid back, but once I got involved, I started taking on more leadership roles. I think it changed a lot about the way I see myself and my future. I made the decision to remain abstinent from not just sex, but also drugs, alcohol, smoking and any other negative behavior.

I learned that the easiest thing to do to help people understand abstinence is to just be yourself and tell your story. I'm not perfect. I face the same things you do. I have had a lot of things to overcome in my life. So I don't put myself "up here" and make myself out to be something I'm not. I say I want to reach some goals in my life and this is the way to get there.

The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth is pleased to present a new series featuring youth champions of abstinence education. In the coming weeks, we'll offer profiles of young people who have not only made the decision to wait but have also been through and volunteered in abstinence education programs around the country— empowering other teens to make the same choice. If you have outstanding teens in your program, let us know about them. E-mail: dbertrand@ncfy.com.

Recent Research

Sexual and Reproductive Health of Persons Aged 10--24 Years --- United States, 2002--2007, a report in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, noted that after some period of improvement, sexual and reproductive health trends among teens in the United States have flattened or worsened. Although teen births declined dramatically from 1991–2005, they increased in 2006–2007. There were 745,000 pregnancies to women younger than age 20 in 2004—16,000 of them to girls age 10–14. About 1 million youth age 10–24 years had chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis in 2006. Nearly a quarter of female youth age 15–19 had an HPV infection during 2003–2004. And 100,000 female youth age 10–24 years visited an emergency room for a sexual assault during 2004–2006. Hispanic teens had the highest number of pregnancies and black youth had the most new cases of HIV/AIDS.

Go to the NCFY literature database for abstracts of these and other publications. Publications discussed here do not necessarily reflect the views of NCFY, the Family and Youth Services Bureau, or the Administration for Children and Families.

Know Your CBAE Contractors

Many of you have expressed confusion about the organizations that work with the Family and Youth Services Bureau to deliver CBAE training, technical assistance, and other resources. Over the next few weeks, watch this space to see descriptive summaries of those organizations, how they serve grantees, and how to contact them.

PAL-TECH logo.
Cooperative Agreement to Broaden the Reach of CBAE Programs
Broaden the Reach is a Cooperative Agreement between the Abstinence Education Division and Pal-Tech, Inc., to help CBAE programs align their curricula with state and local health and sexual education guidelines and forge partnerships with new school systems and strengthen existing school partnerships. A maximum of five states will be targeted each year for intensive services, and materials will be developed for use by grantees in other states. Six core elements are the focus of this Cooperative Agreement:

  • Assess need among abstinence education grantees in aligning their programs with state health guidelines.
  • Identify state sexual education and health guidelines and processes for establishing guidelines.
  • Determine local school district policies, practices, and protocols relevant to health education and educate grantees about them.
  • Provide individualized TA for abstinence education grantees interested in receiving a review of the alignment of their program with the state or local guidelines.
  • Establish promising practices for teaching abstinence education grantees to educate school officials about health requirements and abstinence education program alignment.
  • Identify and convene national, state, and local stakeholders to develop, support, and create opportunities for partnerships.

Quote of the Day

"It takes common sense to know abstinence works. It does prevent pregnancy and the spread of STDs 100 percent of the time."

(Letter to the Editor, Statistics Back Effectiveness of Abstinence-Only Programs, St. Cloud Times (MN), July 16, 2009)

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The Abstinence Education E-Update comprises links to Web sites with information on current events, research, funding opportunities, and other items related to abstinence-until-marriage education. Inclusion of this information does not imply endorsement by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY). Moreover, the points of view or opinions expressed on these Web sites do not necessarily represent the official position, policies, or views of FYSB, HHS, or NCFY.

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