PROJECT ACCESS: Advocating Consent, Confidence, and Education for Special Students - a sexual risk reduction program. - APPLICANT: Intersections, Inc. Executive Director and AOR: Moelili'a Seui Contact Person: Melody Rosie Soi, Project Coordinator Phone: (684) 699-5313 Email: rosie@intersectionsweb.com Website: www.intersectionsweb.com Intersections, Inc. (Intersections) is an American Samoa-based nonprofit organization with extensive experience delivering culturally responsive youth development, prevention education, leadership development, and community-based programs in partnership with schools, government agencies, families, and community organizations. Building on this experience and its established relationships with the American Samoa Department of Education (ASDOE) and other local partners, Intersections will implement Project ACCESS to address the absence of developmentally adapted pregnancy- and sexually transmitted infection (STI)-prevention education for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in American Samoa. Over the 36-month project period, Project ACCESS will serve approximately 200 unduplicated youth ages 11–19 enrolled in ASDOE Special Education (SPED) programs and ASDOH-Leo O Aiga, with service sites selected based on eligible enrollment, documented community need, staff readiness, and travel feasibility. Five ASDOE-SPED teachers will be trained and certified as Health Educators to deliver the proposed Competitive Personal Responsibility Education Program (CPREP)-funded curriculum in accessible, small-group instructional settings. The curriculum will be supplemented, with publisher review and approval as appropriate, to ensure that pregnancy- and STI/HIV-prevention instruction provides substantial and approximately equal emphasis on abstinence/delay of sexual activity and contraception/STI risk reduction. Project ACCESS will also provide developmentally appropriate instruction addressing body literacy, online safety, human-trafficking prevention, and three Adulthood Preparation Subjects: Healthy Relationships, Parent-Child Communication, and Healthy Life Skills. ASDOH-Leo O Aiga will support medical-accuracy review and parent/caregiver education, while the American Samoa Alliance Against Domestic and Sexual Violence will support project staff training in trauma-informed practices, human-trafficking prevention, mandatory reporting, safety, and referral procedures. Intersections will coordinate implementation with ASDOE and project partners to support instructional quality, participant safety, culturally responsive implementation, and appropriate access to community resources. Project ACCESS will collect all required OMB-approved PREP performance measures and use fidelity, dosage, participant feedback, and matched entry/exit data to support continuous quality improvement. By September 29, 2029, at least 80% of participants with matched entry/exit assessments are expected to demonstrate improvement in one or more targeted knowledge or skill domains, and at least 80% of enrolled youth are expected to complete the curriculum-defined minimum dosage. Budget Requested Amount for 36-months period: $250,000.00
