Sunday, December 22, 2024
12/22/2024
Bridgercare, the new Title X grantee for the state of Montana, alongside Fort Peck Community College (FPCC) and Montana State University Bozeman (MSU-Bozeman), submit this proposal to implement a Teen Pregnancy Prevention program known as the Montana Youth Wellness Initiative (MYWI). MYWI will focus on providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education to populations in priority communities who are at higher risk of teen pregnancy and STIs. MYWI will focus on youth in rural and frontier counties, unhoused and LGBTQ2S+ youth, and American Indian adolescents. In Year 1, the project will strategically prioritize high risk youth in three rural and frontier counties and one American Indian Reservation in Montana with evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention and education. The settings for Year 1 implementation are 8 schools, 2 community-based organizations, 1 group home, and 1 place of worship. MYWI will focus initial implementation in settings with current or emerging collaborations with the goal of reaching 1000 youth in Year 1. By implementing evidence-informed and evidence-based programs (EBPs) in a variety of settings, we will reach youth where they learn, live, worship, and play, as well as serve vulnerable youth in settings that allow for and support trauma-informed, culturally sensitive education. In Years 2-5, MYWI partners will expand these interventions to at least 3 additional counties and explore expansion into 1 other tribal reservation community in the state. Ultimately, this project will lay the groundwork for a statewide network of comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention programs for high-risk adolescents in Montana. MYWI will work to reach 1,500 youth in Years 3-5. The MYWI staff and educators in southwest Montana and Fort Peck will facilitate community, youth, parent, and caregiver involvement in the selection, monitoring, and adaptation of EBPs throughout the project period. This selection process will be based on youth, community and cultural needs and will consider barriers or challenges that might be faced in each setting with the goal of promoting positive youth development that meets the needs of each prioritized youth group and community. Selected EBPs will be age appropriate, medically accurate, culturally and linguistically appropriate, trauma-informed and inclusive of all youth. The MYWI staff and subcontractors have decades of experience advancing health equity, implementing evidence-based programs, coordinating large scale implementation networks, establishing and fostering a network of partnerships, engaging key stakeholders, and collecting and using performance measure data for quality improvement. Together, Bridgercare and Nen ŨnkUmbi/EdaHiYedo (NE) represent two of the leading youth-serving sexual and reproductive health education projects in Montana, reaching thousands of youth with culturally informed, comprehensive education over the past several decades. The MYWI project closely aligns with Bridgercare’s mission to ensure that “every Montanan has access to excellent, affordable, and evidence-based reproductive and sexual healthcare and education in a safe, supportive, and empowering environment” and vision of “Health for all Montanans through sexual and reproductive well-being.” The MYWI project aims to build statewide capacity for evidence-based, trauma-informed and culturally sensitive teen pregnancy prevention programs.
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).