News Release

For Immediate Release                                          

Contact: Jacqueline L. Halbig
202-205-2317   

HHS Awards $2.8 Million for Adolescent Family Life Prevention Demonstration Grants

The Office of Population Affairs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today four new Adolescent Family Life (AFL) Prevention Demonstration Grants with a total funding of $2.8 million. Prevention demonstration programs implement and evaluate innovative approaches to deliver abstinence education and supportive services in order to help youth ages 12-18 years abstain from sexual behavior.

Early initiation of sexual activity brings the risk of adolescent pregnancy and substantial health risks, primarily sexually transmitted diseases. Adolescent sexual activity is also associated with a host of other problems, such as poor school performance, delinquency, substance use and depression.

The primary purpose of AFL prevention demonstration programs is to find effective means, within the context of the family, of reaching adolescent children before they become sexually active to encourage them to abstain from premarital sexual activity.

These grants will develop, implement and evaluate a multisite primary abstinence education model as compared with an enriched multi-site program model. The primary model consists of 15 – 25 hours of abstinence education and support activities and services. The enriched model consists of the primary model integrated with an intensive mentoring, community service or parental component. The grantees are school-based, community-based or school- and community-based, and use a randomized control design to compare results. The new projects dedicate 20-25 percent of the federal portion of their proposed budget to evaluation activities.

Studies reveal that youth with good relationships with their parents and other adults or older peers are less likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors. Studies also show that youth who are involved in their communities are more likely to make healthier choices.

The AFL prevention demonstration grants are for five years, based on funds available. Grant recipients include: