Abstinence Education Programs Currently Funded
The majority of funded projects in South Dakota have utilized a broad based youth development approach to teach abstinence education. Youth development is a process which prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them to become socially, emotionally, physically, and cognitively knowledgeable. While abstinence education promotes the obvious goal of reducing adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, it is also designed to equip youth with the skills necessary to avoid risky behaviors and enhance positive developmental factors important for growing into healthy, productive adults.
- National Abstinence Clearinghouse / Sioux Falls, SD provides the Truth 4 Youth program. The program focuses on schools and/or community groups in areas located east of the Missouri River as well as the Lower Brule and Rosebud reservations. The Truth 4 Youth team will deliver a culturally and age-appropriate program to schools/community groups in the described target regions. The program uses an educational approach to promote abstinence until marriage as the healthy choice that will benefit the teen’s future. The program acts as a catalyst in motivating communities, parents, teens, and schools to establish a research-based, medically accurate abstinence program. Although the Truth 4 Youth program will potentially impact all performance measures, specifically the program will increase the proportion of individuals age 10-24 participating in abstinence education programs. The National Abstinence Clearinghouse supports and maintains two online resource centers at www.abstinence.net and www.truth4youth.com.
- Northern Hills Pregnancy Care Center / Spearfish, SD provides the Stop and Think program to young people in communities in the northern hills. The target audience for these classroom presentations is students in grades 6 through 12, and ages 11 to 19, in addition to adults and parents of teenagers, ages 30 to 50. The Stop and Think program challenges youth to take charge of their life by utilizing several different life skills taught by the program. Booklets and goal cards are supplied to the students to facilitate learning, interaction, and setting goals for the future. Parents are the single most influential factor in any teen’s decisions. An important goal of the Stop and Think program is to continue developing and growing the Stop and Listen program to equip parents with the tools they need to communicate with their children about sex and abstinence. It is a strong goal of the program to bridge a connection between parents and children regarding this sensitive subject. Stop and Think will continue to expand the after school program, The Open Door. The Open Door project engages students in projects outside the classroom through various activities that encourage healthy relationships and good decision making.
- Youth and Family Services (YFS) provides research-based, developmentally appropriate programming for girls in the Rapid City area. Their Too Young for Two project serves girls, ages 9 – 14 years of age, who are members of Girls Incorporated of Rapid City. Girls Incorporated membership is open to all girls, ages, 5 – 17 year of age, in Rapid City. Girls Incorporated offers abstinence education within the context of an after school and summer program. Between 160 and 200 girls attend the program after school each day during the school. Summer attendance swells to 250 or more girls daily. This large and growing program is an ideal setting for presenting abstinence education because of the duration and intensity of the intervention. Girls Incorporated pairs age-appropriate abstinence education with a range of complementary programming and services to address unattended problems that can lead to pregnancy and to build on the strengths of the girls, increase life skills, and provide enriching experiences that assist the girls in setting goals and direction for their lives.
- Growing Up Together utilizes the “Not Now” Abstinence Education Program provides youth and adults in several counties in central South Dakota. Their approach is to provide direct services that consist of curriculum approved as best practices, customized educational presentations, and resources to schools, clubs, and other organizations. Informational printed material and other media messages are provided to parents and community members by participating in local health fairs and other community events, as well as collaboration with other agency events and activities. The “Not Now” abstinence education program utilizes the curriculum “A.C. Green’s Game Plan Abstinence Program.
