Tuesday, May 7, 2024
5/7/2024
The Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services at JMU is proposing the state-wide "Disability-Inclusive Sexual Health (DISH) Network" initiative to establish, fund, coordinate, and support a multidisciplinary network of partners. The network will develop, test, refine, and evaluate innovative interventions that will improve optimal health, prevent teen pregnancy, and address sexually transmitted infections (STI) within the key priority area of youth with disabilities. The DISH Network initiative is a comprehensive, collaborative effort that will be co-led by SexEdVA and the Virginia Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC) Region 5. The state-wide network consists of Innovation Partners who will receive funding to develop, test, refine, and evaluate interventions designed to positively impact teen pregnancy, STI, and optimal health among youth with disabilities, as well as Supporting Network Partners that will provide training, technical assistance, and systems-level support for interventions. The network will fund nine to eleven (9-11) Innovation Partners each year of the project, leading to 27-33 Innovation Awards distributed over the three-year period. Innovation Partners will be grouped into Impact Teams based on the focus of their intervention(s): (1) youth; (2) parents/caretakers; (3) teachers; and (4) service/medical providers. Impact Teams will engage in collaborative learning, explore challenges together, give and receive feedback on interventions, and develop new knowledge that enhances value for each organization, their intervention(s), and the network as a whole. In order to strategically foster innovation and impact within the priority area, the DISH Network will employ the Social Alchemy Framework as its foundation strategy, while interweaving Principles of Partnership and Human-Centered Design Thinking Principles. An external evaluation team will oversee continuous improve ment efforts, evaluate the impact potential of all interventions, and evaluate the network as a whole through both quantitative and qualitative data collection. Dedicated network staff will ensure the appropriate dissemination of effective interventions for youth with disabilities that are medically-accurate, trauma-informed, developmentally-appropriate, and augmented/adapted according to the needs of the targeted population. It is anticipated that the collaborative work of the DISH Network will result in many effective interventions, practices, and resources that will add significantly to the knowledge base surrounding sexual health education for youth with disabilities.
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).
