Monday, December 4, 2023
12/4/2023
The prevalence of lifetime sexual violence victimization in Alaska is 44.6 percent, which is significantly greater than the national figure (36.3 percent) . An analysis of 2013-2015 Alaska’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey Data identified that Alaskan adults who have experienced childhood sexual abuse are statistically more likely to report ever being diagnosed with arthritis, asthma, cancer, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic bronchitis, stroke, or a depressive disorder. The overarching purpose of the Alaska RPE Program is increased use of the public health approach to violence prevention. The Program will advance this approach through alignment with key constructs identified within the Division of Violence Prevention’s STOP SV: A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence, specifically moving to evidence-based interventions, maximizing participant reach, and expanded community/societal level strategies. The Alaska RPE’s Program proposes core strategies, activities, approaches, grounded in a theory of change that will result in a decrease in rates of sexual violence perpetration and victimization among Alaska youth. Alaska will engage in sound data driven methodology for planning, participation and evaluation to promote social change. The Alaska RPE Program will competitively release funding to sub-recipients and assure that implemented programs, practices, and policies are focused on community-level strategies and aligned with the goals and objectives in the state action plan. Two competitively procured sub-recipients will include: 1) Youth-focused sub-recipient and 2) University-focused sub-recipient. For each of the proposed strategies/approaches the Alaska RPE Program assessed those that the met the criteria listed in the NOFO and fit within one of the STOP SV Focus Areas. Based on our needs assessment and using a data driven public health approach, the Youth-focused sub-recipient will implement Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) and Athletes as Leaders, combined with a statewide youth-focused male-designed affirmative consent social media campaign. Both the youth and university-focused sub-recipients will do community-level social marketing programs to change social norms related to SV with the additional support of a Media Engagement Contractor. The university-focused sub-recipient will focus SV prevention work at the community-level, specifically the university campus. The university-focused sub-recipient will have four main goals: 1) implement a bystander approach, such as Bringing in the Bystander, 2) Establish and consistently apply SV prevention policies, and 3) address community-level risks through environmental approaches based on a student survey and assessment of the built environment from the alcohol outlet density adjacent to the campus to the surrounding trails and dormitories. Additional work will address disparities in SV prevention and clinic policies to integrate patient safety cards and affirmative consent teaching. During the next five years the Alaska RPE Program’s key strategies will focus on establishing new partnerships, developing a state action plan, revising a state evaluation plan, reassessing as needed, and tracking SV indicators. The Alaska RPE Program will further implement no more than 25% of strategies at the individual/relationship level and implement no less than 75% of all strategies at the community/societal-level. 1. Smith, S.G., Chen, J., Basile, K.C., Gilbert, L.K., Merrick, M.T., Patel, N, N., Walling, M., & Jain, A., “The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010-2012 State Report” (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017), https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf.
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).
