Friday, September 29, 2023
9/29/2023
The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) Rape Prevention and Education Program (RI RPE) proposes an innovative place-based approach to sexual violence (SV) prevention to reduce risk factors and strengthen protective factors over the next five years. Strategies will be implemented: (1) statewide; (2) in communities that have prioritized groups at highest risk; and (3) in one targeted community using a “saturation approach” to foster social cohesion and collective efficacy to strengthen economic supports for women. Strategies will target the general RI population and groups at higher risk of SV perpetration and victimization. Targeted populations include: adolescent and adult males; middle school and college aged students; adolescent girls of color in four of RI’s seven highest-need communities (Central Falls, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket); transgender adolescents and adults; and women of color. SV prevention efforts also include training individuals with key roles in prevention and response to instances of SV, including Title IX Administrators in K-12 school districts. Proposed strategies are aligned with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) STOP Sexual Violence Technical Package, with an emphasis on strategies at the outer layers of the social-ecological model. RI’s RPE strategies are aligned with RIDOH’s blueprint to reduce health disparities and achieve health equity. RI’s Health Equity Zone (HEZ) initiative is an innovative, place-based approach that brings communities together to build the infrastructure needed to achieve systemic changes at the local level with community indicators to evaluate efficacy. Currently, there are nine RI HEZ initiatives in geographically defined areas with documented health risks. This cross-sector, place-based community-led approach is expected to have a significant impact on health by investing in strategies where people live. HEZ strategies include getting individuals who are addicted to opioids into local treatment centers and implementing RI’s first Green Streets ordinance to improve access to trees, parks, and recreation opportunities; all protective factors for ending SV. RI’s RPE Program will fund HEZ initiatives in the cities of Woonsocket, West Warwick and Newport. Long-term outcomes include (1) integration of positive transgender policies into programs and services as LGBTQ individuals experiencing high rates of domestic and SV; (2) widespread adoption of programs designed to support/empower young women; (3) engagement of young women of color as civic leaders at community and state levels; (4) a universal approach to Title IX compliance and prevention of SV in RI public schools; (5) a comprehensive K-12 SV curriculum; (6) a place-based SV protective environment model that can be utilized in all communities in RI; and (7) a reduction in overall rates of SV in RI.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
