Coalition Capacity Building to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

In 2002 CDC funded the cooperative agreement "Coalition Capacity Building to Prevent Teen Pregnancy" with 3-year national organizations and five state teen pregnancy prevention coalitions. The purpose of this three year project is to build state and local capacity through the use of science-based principles to prevent teen pregnancy and promote adolescent reproductive health, including abstinence, and prevent STDs and HIV.

Program Activities Include

*Disseminating information about science-based teen pregnancy prevention programs to organizations working with youth on the national, state and local levels

*Developing and convening a science advisory panel

*Providing targeted technical assistance to implement and evaluate teen pregnancy prevention programs

*Mobilizing communities to implement programs with a strong science base

The national organizations have created a science advisory panel to help develop and clarify a knowledge base of teen pregnancy prevention, and are providing technical assistance to state and local organizations to implement, translate, and disseminate science-based teen pregnancy prevention programs.

The Grantees Are

Advocates for Youth (www.advocatesforyouth.org)

National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (www.teenpregnancy.org)

National Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting, and Prevention, Inc. (www.noappp.org)

The state coalitions are strengthening the ability of state and local teen pregnancy prevention coalitions to select, implement, and evaluate science-based programs that address local needs.

The Grantees Are

Arizona Coalition on Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting (www.azteenpregnancy.org)

Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy (www.youngfamilies.org)

Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting (www.moappp.org)

Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention of North Carolina (www.appcnc.org)

South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (www.teenpregnancysc.org)

Current Research Agenda

CDC supports innovative research to improve the measurement of unintended pregnancy, to prevent unintended and teen pregnancy, and to integrate STD and HIV prevention with pregnancy prevention programs. In 2002 CDC began funding innovative research and intervention projects to improve public health prevention programs and policies that address unintended and teen pregnancy. Grantees include organizations working at the community level and academic institutions from across the United States.

Unintended and teen pregnancy prevention research projects include studies on

*The relationship of youth assets to sexual behavior, abstinence, and teen pregnancy.

*Social, cultural, family, peer, and individual influences on pregnancy intentions and reproductive health.

*The relationship between pregnancy intention and adolescent behavior, including abstinence, sexual behavior, and contraception.

*Factors influencing contraceptive behavior.

Intervention research projects include studies on

*Innovative approaches to providing clinical services that incorporate behavior change interventions into clinical settings to prevent unintended pregnancy, STDs, and HIV infection.

*Methods to improve contraceptive practice and adherence.

*Community-level interventions to promote reproductive health and foster communication about sexual and reproductive health.

Community Coalition Partnership Programs

Community coalition partnership programs for preventing teen pregnancy

Teen pregnancy prevention through youth development programs are the foundation for the Community Coalition Partnership Programs for the Prevention of Teen Pregnancy. In 1995, CDC awarded funds to 13 communities to demonstrate that community partners can mobilize and organize community resources to prevent teen pregnancies through programs that are communitywide, comprehensive, effective, and sustainable. The coalition partnership programs are based on the principle that young people who experience success, who are hopeful about their futures, and who are supported by their communities will postpone pregnancy.