The goal for the abstinence-centered education program is to delay initiation of sexual activity as part of a continuum of services to decrease the teen birth rate and rate of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in youth age 15-19. The program recommends a holistic approach to address adolescent pregnancy and STI prevention with a target on early intervention (grades 1 - 8) focusing on risk and protective factors that affect early initiation of sexual activity.
Ten Year Target Goal
- To reduce the teen pregnancy rate for females age 15-19 in Texas from 64.2 per 1,000 to less than 62 per 1,000 by 2020 as measured by DSHS's Vital Statistic Birth Record.
- To reduce the number of Chlamydia cases in teens age 15-19 in Texas from 34,278 to less than 20,000 and the number of cases for gonorrhea in teens age 15-19 in Texas from 9,408 to less than 8,000 by 2020 as measured by DSHS's Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Texas.
Five Year Target Goal
- To decrease the initiation of sexual activity in Texas by 9th grade from 34.7% to less than 30% as measured as a state percentage by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey.
Program Strategies
- Direct service contracts to serve youth in grades 1st - 8th in counties that have a birth rate that exceeds 45 per 1,000 for females ages 15-19 and have had at least 350 births within that county including:
- Elementary school sites that have 80-100% of students living in poverty (as defined by the Texas Education Agency),
- Middle school sites that have 70-100% of students living in poverty (as defined by the Texas Education Agency), and
- After school youth clubs to be implemented in after-school or other community settings with a focus on high risk youth such as youth in the child welfare system or foster care.
- Statewide resources available free of charge for youth, and parents including:
- Web-based resources for parents: www.power2talk.org and www.poderdehablar.org
- Web-based guided parent workshops
- Sex Can Wait, Talking Can't booklet and DVD for parents in Spanish and English
- Web-based resources for youth at www.power2wait.com
- Texas Youth Leadership Clubs and college summits
- Statewide resources available free of charge for school districts and organizations including:
- Power2wait Toolkits for grades 4th - 8th with interactive video games to supplement sex education curricula, and
- Workshops to increase awareness of medically accurate, evidence-based, abstinence, and youth development curricula, and DSHS resources provided by most Education Service Centers (ESC).