The Administration for Children and Families’ Assets for Independence (AFI) program recently issued $7.1 million in federal grants to 30 organizations. The AFI program provides grant funds to a wide range of eligible organizations to assist low-income individuals and families with building long-term savings through matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Every dollar of earned income AFI project participants deposit into their IDAs is matched (from $1 to $8 in combined federal and non-federal funds) by AFI.

These briefs from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) draw on the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Policies Database, a source of information on the policies used to operate childcare subsidy programs under CCDF. The briefs examine several state/territory policies that were in effect as of October 1, 2014, a month prior to the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The briefs cover changes to job search policies, changes to requirements for legally unregulated childcare providers, and changes to requirements for ongoing eligibility.

National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy staff and several partners held a webinar to discuss strategies for engaging youth in foster care. The webinar focused on three major components: partnerships necessary for working with youth in foster care; challenges to implementing Evidence Based Programs (EBPs) with youth in foster care, such as content that may trigger trauma; and strategies for addressing challenges practitioners face while implementing EBPs. Speakers throughout the webinar provided insights into existing programs and how their curricula can be implemented effectively by narrowing their focus on teen pregnancy prevention, healthy relationships, and recognition of the varied experiences of foster care youth.

This webinar from the Office of Adolescent Health explained that the broad goal of Relationship Education (RE) programs for adolescents is to impart a combination of knowledge, values, and skills believed necessary to establish healthy romantic relationships. Relationships are important for healthy development of youth, and romantic relationships during adolescence can set the stage for relationship behavior throughout life in regards to school, employment, peer, and pregnancy prevention. The teaching of heathy relationships and Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) in RE programs can foster social skills by bringing together peer groups, teaching communication and conflict skills, and teaching teens to set boundaries.

In this webinar, Child Trends, through the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), discussed how to select evidence-based prevention programs and why it is important to select the right teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) program. The programs in the OAH database have undergone rigorous evaluation and have been shown to be effective at preventing teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and/or sexual risk behaviors. These programs have effectively identified needs - or a lack of some resource, tool, or program - that puts adolescents at a disadvantage or at risk for negative health or social outcomes. By identifying the needs, the right prevention program can be selected through use of the OAH database.

Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood are closely associated with a host of social and economic issues that affect teen parents, their children and society. Teenage mothers are less likely to finish high school and are more likely to live in poverty, depend on public assistance, and be in poor health than slightly older mothers. Their children are more likely to suffer health and cognitive disadvantages, come in contact with the child welfare and correctional systems, live in poverty, drop out of high school and become teen parents themselves. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) examines teen pregnancy prevention and provides statistics and resources related to teen pregnancy and educational achievement, economic wellbeing, youth in foster care, and federally funded initiatives.

Fact Forward, previously South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (SCCAPP), is an entity using TANF funds for teen pregnancy prevention programming. Fact Forward became a national model as one of the first states in the country to utilize surplus TANF funds for teen pregnancy prevention. They developed resources to assist in the development of teen pregnancy prevention programs, which include sample needs assessment tools, program characteristics checklists, and outcome evaluation tools.

Teen pregnancy prevention efforts, specifically aimed at high-risk youth, are most effective as part of a youth development framework that addresses multiple risk factors. Positive youth development programs promote healthy development for youth through greater community and adult support. The programs address the risks young people face and can help prevent unplanned pregnancies, involvement with the criminal justice system, and dropping out of school. This brief from the National Conference of State Legislatures highlights disparities in teen pregnancy and birth rates, identifies teen populations at high risk for pregnancy, and examines prevention programs.

The Hawaii Department of Human services (DHS) uses the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to fund a diverse set of positive youth development (PYD) programs to prevent teenage pregnancy and other behaviors that can negatively affect a successful transition to adulthood. DHS selected a PYD approach because 1) a broader PYD approach is expected to be more cost-effective than a narrower teenage pregnancy prevention (TPP) approach; and 2) a PYD approach yields numerous other social benefits related to fostering self-sufficiency (e.g., staying in school, avoiding abuse of alcohol and drugs, building character, developing job and decision-making skills). The report details Hawaii’s efforts in the development of appropriate performance measures for its TPP and PYD programs.