Question

What are some resources to reduce teen pregnancy?

What program can be created to reduce teen pregnancy and can the program be evaluated?

Answer 1

Although there are many different ways to prevent a teenage girl from becoming pregnant, the only one that is absolutely effective is sexual abstinence. This method is the only one that guarantees no risk of getting pregnant and protects the teen from getting any STD's.Another form of teenage pregnancy prevention that is being taught in schools is various contraceptive techniques. Although abstinence remains the best way to prevent pregnancy among teens, it is a fact that there are still a large number of them who will be involved in sexual relations. For this reason, it is important that teens be provided with broad information on how to do so responsibly using various contraceptive techniques.For most teenagers, the real consequences of having a child at such a young age are unknown. Teens need to be aware of the harsh reality of raising a baby and the negative effects that an unplanned pregnancy can cause in both the mother and the child's lives.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program is a national, tiered, evidence-based program that funds diverse organizations nationwide working to prevent adolescent pregnancy. The OAH TPP Program invests a larger share of its grant funds in the implementation of evidence-based programs—those programs proven through rigorous evaluation to reduce adolescent pregnancy and risky behavior associated with adolescent pregnancy (tier 1). These diverse programs include sex education, youth development, abstinence education, clinic-based programs, and programs specifically designed for vulnerable populations, including parenting adolescents and youths in juvenile detention (Table 1). The OAH TPP Program also invests a smaller portion of its grant funds in research and demonstration projects to develop and test new models and innovative strategies to address gaps in what is known about how to prevent adolescent pregnancy (tier 2).

REQUIREMENTS FOR EVALUATION STUDIES

All projects were required to engage in a phased-in implementation period lasting up to one year to allow time for thorough needs assessments and partner development. Implementations were required to maintain fidelity to the program model and be of high quality as rated by an independent observer, high levels of youth retention and engagement were expected, and programs had to be medically accurate and age appropriate. A standard set of performance measurement data related to fidelity, dosage, reach and retention, partnerships, training, and dissemination were collected and reported to OAH every six months and reviewed to monitor progress of the project. Grantees had to adhere to evaluation expectations, primarily meeting the standards for research quality as established by the HHS Evidence Review. Furthermore, tier 2 programs had to be packaged and implementation ready by the end of the five-year grant period. All evaluations were required to collect three time points of data, including a baseline prior to program implementation as well as short- and long-term follow-ups, and evaluations had to collect at least one behavioral outcome measure from the HHS Evidence Review.