Ambassadors For Christ Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (AFC-SRAE) Program - TEXAS PRODUCES 15% OF ALL TEEN BIRTHS IN THE UNITED STATES AND RANKS 8TH HIGHEST IN THE NATION FOR TEEN BIRTHS AND 7TH HIGHEST FOR REPEAT TEEN BIRTHS: 18.5 per 1,000 females ages 15-19 compared to 12.6 per 1,000 for the U.S., a rate 47% HIGHER than the national rate (CDC WONDER natality data, 2024). Houston, Harris County, Texas perpetuates this public health crisis. Harris County recorded 3,140 births to teens ages 15-19 in 2024 — the HIGHEST count of any of the 254 counties in Texas — along with 41 births to girls under age 15, also the highest in the state. Moreover, Harris County exceeds the Texas average on EVERY principal STI indicator, and the county syphilis rate MORE THAN DOUBLED between 2016 and 2022. Finally, youth ages 15-19 have the HIGHEST rates of drug-related deaths and drug-related hospitalizations of any age group in Harris County, with drug-related deaths among that age group rising 544% from 2018 to 2022 compared to 65% among adults aged 20 and older. Based on this evidence, the AFC Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (AFC-SRAE) Program will target 1,400 youth ages 14-19 (396 Year 1; 504 Years 2-3) who are at high risk of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection — youth in juvenile justice custody, youth in or aging out of foster care, youth who have dropped out of or fallen behind in traditional high school, and youth residing in communities with high teen birth rates — by delivering the evidence-based Love Notes 4.2 Abstinence Only (AO), Federal Version curriculum at four established sites: the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, the Harris County Leadership Academy, Texas Can Academy — Houston Hobby, and Texas Can Academy — Houston North. AFC will deliver the full 8-hour curriculum addressing all six statutory A-F topics and the Success Sequence for Poverty Prevention, together with human trafficking universal education for every participant, through three AFC-employed, Dibble-certified Education Facilitators, two assigned per cohort. AFC certifies that all grant-funded educational activities will provide educational content related exclusively to abstinence education. Combined program efforts implemented in the settings where these youth actually are — secure detention, a custodial school, and dropout and credit recovery campuses — are expected to promote healthy transitions into adulthood and accomplish the following OUTCOMES, each measured by an instrument AFC administers directly and reported semi-annually: Increased knowledge of the physical, emotional, and financial advantages of avoiding nonmarital sexual activity among 80% of completers each year of the project period; Increased knowledge and application of the Success Sequence for Poverty Prevention among 80% of completers each year; Increased skills to resist and avoid sexual coercion and dating violence, and to recognize and seek help for human trafficking, among 75% of completers each year; Increased knowledge of how underage drinking and illicit drug use increase the risk for teen sex among 75% of completers each year; Increased intention to delay or discontinue sexual activity and to refrain from nonmarital sexual activity among 70% of completers each year; and Documented referral with 48-hour follow-up for 90% of identified participant service needs each year. Over the 36-month project period AFC expects 1,400 youth enrolled and 1,260 completing the full program dosage across 78 cohorts. AFC has delivered SRAE and PREP services for nearly 10 years, reaching 6,123 youth, has received more than $23 million in federal awards, and has served 117% of its target population under its current SRAE award. Total Year 1 federal request: $450,000.
