The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that it has added four new programs to the list of evidence-based models evaluated by its Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review, bring the total number of effective programs on its list to 35.
Program reviews are being conducted for the Department under contract by Mathematica Policy Research and Child Trends. (The process being used to conduct the reviews is described here.)
The results of these reviews will affect at least three pregnancy prevention programs that are part of the administration’s broader Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, including:
- Teen Prevention Program: Under this $100 million initiative, run by the Office of Adolescent Health, three-quarters of its funding is devoted to replicating programs that have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective. Moreover, grantees that received more than $1 million must conduct a rigorous evaluation that uses a random assignment or quasi-experimental design with comparison groups. The remaining 25 percent of the funding is reserved for newer, innovative strategies.
- Communitywide Initiatives: This $10 million program, jointly operated by the Office of Adolescent Health and Centers for Disease Control, funds nine community-wide demonstration projects to reduce pregnancy within specific geographic areas.
- Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP): This program provides $75 million in funding to grantees to replicate or substantially incorporate elements of programs deemed effective under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review. The program is run by Family and Youth Services Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families.
In related news, the District of Columbia has announced that it has selected Social Finance US to coordinate and launch a new social impact bond that would reduce teen pregnancy.
Related
- Administration for Children and Families, Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) Multi-Component Evaluation, 2011-2017
- Office of Adolescent Health, Replicating Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs: A Case Study (June 2013)