Welcome to the third issue of New Developments, a quarterly e-newsletter from SRI Internationals Center for Education and Human Services. (Earlier issues are available at our website.) In this issue, we highlight some important findings from a recently released report that concludes an evaluation of The California Wellness Foundations Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative.
 Click here for the full report: http://policyweb.sri.com/cehs/ publications/TPPI_200706.pdf |
In 1995, The California Wellness Foundation Board of Directors approved a 10-year, $60-million grantmaking program, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI). The initiatives goal was to decrease the incidence of teen pregnancies in California by (1) defining teen pregnancy as not only an individual and family problem, but also an adult and societal problem; (2) reinforcing community norms that value healthy adolescent sexuality instead of rewarding pregnancies and high-risk sexual behaviors; and (3) increasing the proportion of teens who delay the initiation of sexual activity and/or effectively use contraception. Taken together, these strategies were intended to change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to teen pregnancy at the individual, family, organizational, community, and broad societal levels.
TPPI was a multifaceted initiative involving community grants to develop local programs that combined direct services and community mobilization strategies (Community Action Program), technical assistance to community grantees, a peer outreach model (peer provider clinics), professional development, leadership recognition, public education, policy advocacy, and research. SRI conducted a 10-year evaluation of TPPI in collaboration with Philliber Research Associates and the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy at the University of California, San Francisco.
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Key Evaluation Findings According to surveys of teens and their parents, sexually active teen girls in Community Action Plan (CAP) communities were less likely to become pregnant in 2003 than in 1999. In 1999, 50% of the sexually active females in CAP service areas reported that they had been pregnant. In 2003, this rate had dropped to 37%. Sexually active teen girls in CAP service areas increased their use of family planning services more than did similar teens in similar communities. In grantee communities, use of family planning clinics increased by 36% from 1999 to 2004, compared with 17% in comparison sites. Births to teens decreased more in CAP neighborhoods than in other similar communities or statewide. The number of births per 1,000 12- to 17-year-old females decreased by 9.8 (39%) from 1999 to 2004 in CAP communities, compared with 8.3 (26%) in similar communities and 4.4 (30%) statewide. Increases in teens' use of family planning services were noted in communities served by TPPIs peer provider clinics, which implemented a teen-friendly model of services. An average increase of 29% was noted across the eight funded clinics from 2002 to 2004. The Peer Provider Program was particularly successful at attracting males into family planning clinics, a group traditionally difficult to engage in such services. The number of males at peer provider clinics grew more (34%) from 2002 to 2004 than the number of females (20%). |