Research found that a lack of comprehensive sexual education in schools creates an increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases and unintended teenage pregnancy. The lack of access to sexual health resources not only raises the likelihood of young teenage parents to discontinue high school, but also multiplies the chances of abuse and neglect, and the possibilities of entering into the welfare system. The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH) is an advocate for the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) in Illinois, which implements comprehensive sexual health education curricula in school-based settings. Certified health education specialists facilitated ICAH’s skills-based training program that recruited educators and youth service providers from 29 school districts in Illinois. Selected for the trainings were counties that have statistically higher teenage birth rates and STDs. Results from a 3-to-6-month follow-up evaluation of the PREP curriculum-training revealed an estimated 95 percent of participants realize that professional development in PREP curricula is crucial to the overall goal in teaching youth the skills needed to develop healthy relationships, and to prevent unintended pregnancy and the acquisition of STDs/HIV. When developing recommendations for school board policy changes, studies point to the success of PREP as medically accurate, age-appropriate, and evidence-based curricula. Amid significant societal and financial costs of the lack of comprehensive sexual education, any progress in reducing these social concerns will not only sponsor the state and national economies, but will also develop the social, emotional, and physical wellbeing for current and subsequent generations of America. "Dear Adler Community, The posters presented today by our CSP students represented their reflections on their community work. The posters included themes about socially responsible practice, the connection between individual and community well-being, the systemic forces that marginalize whole communities, and the actions we can take to improve our society. Over 30 community partners joined faculty and staff to help students celebrate the completion of the Community Service Practicum. It was difficult to do, but we did identify students whose posters excelled. These students will be awarded subsidies to a professional conference in the following amounts: 1st Place Winner: $500 2nd Place Winner: $400 3rd Place Winner: $300 Because we have so many students, this year we doubled the number of students who could win. Our first place winners are Kulkiran Nakai and XX. Our second place winners are XX and XX. Our third place winners are XX and XX. Many thanks to our judges, whose decisions were made so difficult by the excellent quality of students’ posters. Nancy J. Bothne Director of Community Engagement Cecil Thomas Associate Director of Community Engagement"

1. + Support
PREP:
Personal
Responsibility
Education
Program
Kulkiran K. Nakai, M.A.
The Adler School of Professional Psychology
The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH)

2. A total of 409,840 infants were born to
15-19 year olds in 2009.
(Hamilton et al, 2010)
“THE PROBLEM”
Lack of
Comprehensive
Sexual Health
Education
(PREP)
60% of mothers nationwide who have a
child before they turn 18-years-old do not
graduate from high school. (Hoffman, 2006)
$9.1 billion is spent annually for cost
of teen childbearing at the
federal, state, and local levels. (Hoffman, 2006)
Approximately ¼ of teenage mothers go
on welfare within the first three years of
the child’s birth.
(Hoffman, 2006)
In 2006, an estimated 5,259 young people aged 1324 were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.
(CDC, 2008)
A total of 1,244,180 chlamydial infections were reported to
CDC in 2009. The highest age-specific rates of reported
chlamydia in 2009 were among those aged 15–19 years.
(CDC, 2010)

3. Preventing “The Problem” with PREP
 PREP
requires replication of medicallyaccurate, evidenced-based, and age-appropriate
curricula for grades 6-12
 PREP
designates an agenda intended to prepare
adolescents on both abstinence and contraception
 PREP
includes pre-adulthood preparation topics:
healthy life skills, educational and career success, financial
literacy, adolescent development, and healthy relationships
 PREP
is awarded to high-risk, vulnerable, and
culturally under-represented youth populations:
youth in foster care and youth with HIV/AIDS, homeless
youth, mothers and pregnant women under the age of 21 and
their partners, as well as youth who dwell in communities with
higher teen birth rates
(SIECUS, 2010)

4. ICAH Supports PREP
 Increase access to sexual health care and access to
sexuality education for youth
 Advocate with the Illinois Youth Policy Council (IYPC) to
gain community and legislative support for comprehensive
sexual health education
 Support state and federal legislation for PREP
 Encourage state school boards to change local sexuality
education policies for PREP
 Fund for PREP in local schools and communities
 Provide free professional development trainings on how to
establish and implement PREP curricula to educators and
youth service providers throughout Illinois
(ICAH, 2011)

5. PREP & Professional Development
 The Administration on Children, Youth, and Families
allocated PREP funds through the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act totaling $75 million each year during
the period of 2010-20141
 Illinois applied for PREP in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-20111
• IL counties with higher rates of teen pregnancy and STI’s2:
•
Springfield, Macomb, Edwardsville, Joliet, and Loves Park
Participants included teachers from elementary
schools, middle schools and high schools, administrative
staff, principals, superintendants, school nurses, members
from the Health Department, and a member from the
Department of Child and Family Services
(1SIECUS, 2010; 2IDPH; 2010 )

6. Post-Training Evaluations
 Participants
•
•
•
•
•
appreciated:
Current laws and legislation on sexual health education (PREP)
Updated statistical information on STDs/HIV/Teen pregnancy for their
local communities
Access to the Adolescent Sexual Health Toolkit and a thorough review of
available PREP curricula
Participating in hands-on, interactive activities related to sexual health
Discussing and exchanging ideas with other professionals
 75%
of participants went from “not very skilled” prior to the
trainings on PREP subject material to “very skilled”
 95%
realize that PREP is fundamental for educators to teach
youth the skills needed to develop healthy relationships and how
to prevent unintended pregnancy and the acquisition of STDs/HIV

7. +
PREP Works!
 Delay
of initial sexual activity, reduction in frequency of
sexual activity, and reduction in quantity of sexual
partners1,2,3
 Increased
condom use and contraceptive use1,2,3
 Decreased
unprotected sex and the acquisition of
HIV/STDs and pregnancy rates1,2,3
 Raising
interest and demand for PREP in school, community-, and clinic-based settings1,3
 Increased
health awareness and education, and
enhanced overall wellbeing1
(1Kirby, 2007; 2Science and Success, 2008; & 3Suellentrop, 2010)

8. ICAH Recommends
 Advocate
for PREP funding at local, state, and national
levels
 Promote
PREP in schools and communities
 Expand
to school districts with increased health
risks, and to Spanish-speaking communities
 Provide
free contraceptives in community-based and
school-based settings
 Utilize
social media and public forums for parental
involvement to encourage communication with youth

9. References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Sexually transmitted disease surveillance, 2009. Retrieved May 2011, from
http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats09/surv2009-Complete.pdf.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). HIV/AIDS surveillance report, 2006. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human
Services, 18:11.
Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health. (2011). Retrieved on March 2011, from http://www.icah.org.
Hamilton, B. E., Martin, J. A., and Ventura, S. J. (2010). Births: Preliminary data for 2009. National Vital Statistics Reports, 59(3).
Hoffman, S. D. (2006, October). By the numbers: The public costs of teen childbearing. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Retrieved March 2011, from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/costs/pdf/report/BTN_Executive_Summrypf.
Illinois Department of Public Health. (2010, December). HIV/AIDS/STD Sections. Retrieved March 2011, from
http://www.idph.state.il.us/aids/Surv_Report_1210.pdf.
Kirby, D. (2007). Emerging answers 2007: Research findings on programs to reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.
Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/ea2007/
Science and success: Sex education and other programs that work to prevent teen pregnancy, HIV & sexually transmitted infections in the
United States. (2008). Washington DC: Advocates for Youth. Retrieved March 2011, from
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/storage/advfy/documents/sciencesuccess.pdf
SIECUS. (2010, October). State by state decisions: The personal responsibility program and title V abstinence-only program. SIECUS.
Retrieved March 2011, from
http://SIECUS.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=feature.showFeature&FeatureID=13&aruniqueuserid=91568805714.
Suellentrop, K. (2010). What works 2010: Curriculum-based programs that help prevent teen pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent
Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy: Washington, DC.