Delivering Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Services to High-Risk Youth: The Impacts of Teen Choice in New York
OPRE Report Number: 2019-49
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Associated Project
Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
Key Findings
- Six months after the program ended, Teen Choice had succeeded in increasing support for condom use among youth enrolled in the program, as well as increasing their perceived skills for saying no to sex.
- The program also reduced the percentage of youth who reported they intended to have sex in the next year.
- Six months post program, Teen Choice had no effect on rates of unprotected sex. The short follow-up period limits the study’s ability to detect effects on sexual risk behaviors and pregnancy.
This report presents evidence on the impacts of the Teen Choice curriculum for youth in alternative schools in and around New York City. Because alternative schools provide supplemental services to address the specific needs of youth, these schools often find it difficult to fit pregnancy prevention programming into the regular school day. The result is that youth enrolled in these schools often have limited opportunities to receive sexual health education. To help expand the available evidence on teen pregnancy prevention services for youth in alternative schools, the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded a rigorous evaluation of the Teen Choice curriculum in New York. The program was delivered by trained staff from the program developer, Inwood House, with federal grant funding to the New York State Department of Health from the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP).
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