Youth RISE (Responsibility, Integrity, Self-Control = Empowerment) - Continued Need: According to the Center of Disease Control’s (CDC) statistics, Mississippi’s current teen birth rate is approximately 22.8 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19, which is down from 26.4 during the first grant year. Even with the decline in Mississippi’s teen birth rates, they are still substantially higher than the national average of 12.6. Mississippi continues to rank among the highest in cases of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs); 3rd in the United States for the combined rate of major reportable STIs and among the top five states for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Continued Services: The goal of Youth RISE is to normalize avoiding non-marital sexual activity and risky behaviors that increase teen sex, while reducing teen pregnancies and STD/HIV rates by providing evidence-based messaging and programming to 750 unduplicated youth and 75 parents. Youth RISE will continue to provide federally funded General Department Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GD-SRAE) programming to vulnerable youth ages 10-19 in Alcorn, Tippah, and Tishomingo counties in northeast Mississippi. Administered by AFHF, the project delivers medically accurate, age-appropriate, evidence-based education that equips youth with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to avoid nonmarital sexual activity, develop healthy relationships, and make decisions that support lifelong health and success. Middle school youth will receive 8 hours of Choosing the Best or Real Essentials curricula and up to 2 hours of Personal Youth Development (PYD) activities. High school youth will receive 10 hours of Love Notes 4.1 AO curriculum. The curricula are all evidence-based and include SRAE A-F topics, ensuring that Youth RISE programming is in line with GD-SRAE program requirements. Youth RISE and the associated curricula also align with the Center for Relationship Education’s SMARTool assessment of the ten elements that are critical for an effective GD-SRAE program. A qualified evaluation team will continue collecting, tracking, and monitoring performance measure data and evaluating and sharing progress toward project objectives, meeting both local and federal reporting requirements. Youth RISE will continue to maintain implementation fidelity while strengthening community partnerships and expanding opportunities to reach vulnerable youth in the service area. The project will continue to support facilitators through professional development, monitor program implementation, and use performance data to guide continuous quality improvement. Youth RISE seeks to continue to strengthen protective factors that promote healthy behaviors, increase participants’ confidence in making responsible decisions, and foster resilience, positive youth development, and future orientation.
