With funding from the Office of Population Affairs, Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA) and project partners: Rowan-Salisbury Schools, Kannapolis City Schools, Cabarrus and Rowan Departments of Social Services, Boys and Girls Club of Cabarrus, and El Puente Hispano will replicate evidence-based programs (EBPs) in the school, foster care, and community-based organizations/nonprofit settings in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, North Carolina. At least five EBPs will be replicated to scale to support suburban youth with greatest needs and facing significant disparities, in particular, Black and Hispanic youth, who demonstrate the greatest disparities in STI and teen pregnancy rates, respectively. These rates have consistently exceeded national and local peer rates. In Year 1, 3,916 adolescents will be reached through EBP replication, with 19,580 reached over five years. To create supportive youth environments, 210 parents, caregivers, and other youth-serving professionals will be reached through EBP replication in Year 1 with 872 reached over five years. To improve project sustainably, ownership, and systems-level change, funding will support a Learning Collaborative (made up of partner and community leadership and healthcare professionals) and a Youth Advisory Council (made up of adolescents from the three settings). To advance equity and reduce disparities, both groups will have at least 50% representation from the population of focus. Cabarrus Health Alliance requests $1,098,482 per year, or $5,492,410 across five years for the proposed cooperative agreement.
