Applicant: Partners in Social Research (PSR), LLC
Opportunity Title: Advancing Equity in Adolescent Health through Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs and Services
Opportunity: AH-TP1-23-001
CFDA: 93.297
Project Period: 7/1/2023-6/30/2028
Contact Name: Donna C. Maselli, RN, MPH
Phone Number: (860) 550-0439
E-mail: donnamaselli@hotmail.com
Project Abstract
PSR is committed to advancing health equity by reducing teen pregnancy that exists in the City of New Britain and among youth with child welfare involvement. New Britain has significant unmet needs around sexuality education and prevention. Of 169 towns in Connecticut (CT), New Britain ranks 2nd on the rate of teen birth and 8th on the rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among youth. Similarly, youth with child welfare involvement face numerous difficulties and are disproportionately affected by unintended teen pregnancy and birth [1–3].
PSR will partner with the Consolidated School District of New Britain, Hospital of Central Connecticut Family Enrichment Center, Klingberg Family Centers, and the Department of Children & Families, and each has provided a letter of commitment for this project. The proposed project will serve youth in schools, community settings, afterschool programs, and a teen clinic in the City of New Britain, as well as in programs for youth with child welfare involvement statewide.
Through this project we will build a community and youth-driven consortium to address teen pregnancy and overall adolescent health. We will establish a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Advisory, which will work in coordination with the New Britain Prevention Council to create and sustain a robust network of partners: community stakeholders, educators, health providers, families / caregivers, LGBTQ+ advocates, and youth leaders as equal decision-makers in an effort to select and implement evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs that are the best-fit for the community and the population served. The programs will be replicated in grades 6-8 in middles schools, in high schools, in alternative schools, in community and afterschool programs, in the City’s teen clinic, and in child welfare settings statewide. All materials disseminated to youth will be reviewed at least annually to ensure that they are medically-accurate, age-appropriate, culturally and linguistically appropriate, trauma-informed, and inclusive of all youth.
The proposed project will not only give young people the tools to prevent teen pregnancy and STIs, but it will also mobilize the community to build a network of youth-friendly services to meet young people’s social, physical, psychological, and financial needs. Additionally, the proposed project will amplify young people’s voices by engaging them as equal partners in the decision-making process.