ACTS Competitive Personal Responsibility Education Program (ACTS PREP) - PROJECT ABSTRACT SUMMARY Applicant: ACTS Foundation Project Title: ACTS Competitive Personal Responsibility Education Program (ACTS PREP) Service Area: Fresno County, California Target Population: Youth ages 14–19 Project Period: 36 months Federal Funding Request: $750,000 Participants: 200 unduplicated youth annually; 600 over the three-year project period ACTS Foundation proposes the ACTS Competitive Personal Responsibility Education Program (ACTS PREP) to reduce risks associated with adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, while strengthening healthy relationships, decision-making, positive youth development, and successful transitions to adulthood among youth ages 14–19 in Fresno County, California. The project responds to documented local disparities, including an adolescent birth rate above the California rate, substantial STI burden among adolescents and young adults, poverty, housing instability, chronic absenteeism, and other barriers affecting vulnerable youth. Priority populations will include youth experiencing homelessness or housing instability, youth in foster care, students attending continuation or alternative education settings, pregnant and parenting youth, and other adolescents experiencing elevated risk. ACTS PREP will serve 200 unduplicated youth annually and 600 youth over three years through approximately 10 cohorts per year. The project will implement Love Notes 4.1 Federal Version–Comprehensive Sex Education (FV-CSE) as its primary evidence-based curriculum, supplemented by age-appropriate body-literacy and human-trafficking-prevention education. Participants will receive approximately 16 contact hours over eight weeks, including substantial education on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and STIs/HIV. Programming will integrate selected Adulthood Preparation Subjects (APS), positive youth development, trauma-informed practices, healthy relationships, communication and decision-making skills, financial literacy, educational and career preparation, mentoring, and youth-friendly screening and referral pathways.
