CityServe PREP - Kern County, California, faces a persistent need for adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention. The county's teen birth rate is 19.6 births per 1,000 females ages 15–19—more than twice California's rate of 8.7 and substantially above the national rate of 13.1. Kern County also has higher rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis than state and national benchmarks and documented commercial sexual exploitation activity along major transportation corridors. These risks are especially significant for young people in foster care, experiencing homelessness, surviving exploitation, or transitioning to adulthood without consistent support. Project and population. CityServe Network requests $750,000 for a 36-month Competitive Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) serving 250 unduplicated youth each year and 750 youth overall in Kern County. The project will serve youth ages 14–19 and pregnant or parenting youth under age 21. Approximately 65% of participants will be youth in or aging out of foster care, with additional participants including youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness, survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, justice-involved youth, pregnant and parenting youth, and other eligible youth facing elevated risk. Participation will be voluntary. Program services. Participants will complete 13 weekly, in-person sessions totaling 14 hours using Love Notes 4.1 CSE, an evidence-based curriculum supported by randomized controlled trial findings, supplemented with REAL Essentials content addressing body literacy and human trafficking prevention. The program provides medically accurate, age-appropriate education addressing pregnancy and STI/HIV prevention, healthy relationships, adolescent development, body literacy, educational and career success, and preparation for adulthood. Instruction places substantial emphasis on both abstinence and contraception, with 69% of direct prevention instruction addressing abstinence, sexual risk avoidance, and delayed sexual initiation and 31% addressing contraception and STI/HIV prevention. No condom demonstrations or contraceptive devices will be provided. Youth safety and support. CityServe will pair education with trauma-informed support, positive youth development, meaningful youth engagement, universal human trafficking prevention education, and connections to youth-friendly services. Participants with identified needs will receive documented referrals for services such as education, employment, behavioral health, housing, substance use treatment, survivor services, and other supports. Staff will use a warm-handoff process and verify referral status within 72 hours. Staff will also follow mandated-reporting requirements when indicators of abuse, neglect, sexual molestation, or exploitation are identified. Partnerships and organizational capacity. CityServe has provided federally funded adolescent health education in Kern County continuously since 2020, serving 4,103 unduplicated youth across three federal award cycles. The project builds on established partnerships with EA Family Services for foster youth, Global Family Care Network for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, The Dibble Institute and The Center for Relationship Education for curriculum and training support, and WMA & Associates for technical assistance and evaluation. Expected results and evaluation. CityServe expects to serve 750 youth across 42 cohorts, with at least 80% completing 75% or more of the program and at least 90% fidelity to the approved program model. Expected outcomes include increased body literacy; increased knowledge of abstinence, contraception, and STI/HIV prevention; stronger intentions to delay sexual initiation; improved ability to recognize unhealthy or coercive relationships; stronger trusted-adult connections; and increased educational and career goal setting.
