CS Network Title V Competitive Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program - CityServe Network, a California 501(c)(3) organization requests $450,000 for each of two 12-month budget periods to operate Built2Last, a sexual risk avoidance education project in Kern County, California. Need. Kern County youth face persistent adolescent health disparities. In 2024 the county reported 644.3 chlamydia cases per 100,000 residents, roughly 47 percent above California's rate of 437.2 and the second highest among California local health jurisdictions. The teen birth rate remains above state and national averages, and nearly two-thirds of Kern County teen mothers are unmarried. Poverty, low educational attainment, substance use, family instability, trauma, and limited access to preventive services are concentrated in the same communities, and major transportation corridors including State Route 99 and Interstate 5 add human trafficking vulnerability. Population served. 500 unduplicated youth ages 10-19 per year, 1,000 over the two-year project period, with services concentrated in Bakersfield and McFarland. The project reaches high-risk youth, including justice-involved and reentry youth, youth in and aging out of foster care, youth with developmental disabilities, youth recovered from commercial sexual exploitation, and youth in rural agricultural communities. Approximately 56 percent are ages 10-13 and 44 percent are ages 14-19. Participation is voluntary, and services are open to all eligible youth without prioritizing any race, color, or national origin. Services. Education on sexual risk avoidance is the exclusive purpose of this project. CityServe delivers The Center for Relationship Education's REAL Essentials curriculum - Starting Point for ages 10-13, Advance for ages 14-19, and Life for transition-age foster youth - in approximately 24 eight-week cohorts per year, taught in English and Spanish by three full-time certified facilitators. Every cohort covers all six statutory topics (A-F), teaches the Success Sequence for poverty prevention (finish high school, work full time, marry before having children), and provides human trafficking universal education to 100 percent of participants. Instruction takes place at CityServe-operated locations and community sites contributed at no cost to the award. A positive youth development framework adds goal setting, leadership and job readiness, service learning, a quarterly Youth Advisory Council, integrated sports camps, four parent and guardian workshops each year, and an annual youth leadership conference. Trauma-informed needs assessment, optional screening, group case management, and referrals within 48 hours connect youth to youth-friendly services that do not normalize sexual activity outside of marriage. No grant funds pay for referred services, and no funds support abortion services or referrals. Outcomes and evaluation. Paired entry and exit surveys measure six participant outcomes: intention to delay sexual activity until marriage, skills to resist pressure and set boundaries, communication and conflict resolution, awareness of relationship safety and trafficking risk, future orientation and goal setting, and understanding of the Success Sequence. CityServe will collect and report all OMB-approved Title V SRAE performance measures semi-annually and will participate in federal evaluation activities as instructed.
