P&P October 2016

TEEN PREGNANCY continued from page 27

resource awareness training to social workers, caregivers, and com- munity partners. 6. Practitioner tools are essential These require significant front- load investment but yield a favorable return in the form of policy and practice fidelity. We produced a reproductive and sexual health policy, a reproductive and sexual health resource guide, youth consent rights notification, a medical provider report with reproductive and sexual health prompts, and training for social workers (with separate modules on policy, soft skills, and technical skills). These tools were heavily vetted by the Steering Committee and with subject matter experts. These tools were also developed through an iterative process to reduce them to the simplest essentials. 7. Youth need “askable adults”—The more the better Some will be naturals and most will benefit from training and support to develop the comfort and skills of an “askable adult.” They can include parents, family members, social workers, judicial officers, court- appointed special advocates, foster and kinship caregivers, transition-age youth service providers, and attorneys. Your plan should include strategies

to develop these individuals (e.g., training). 8. Peers are influential Youth and young adults learn from each other; therefore, it is important to include strategies to develop their accurate understanding of sexual and reproductive health and resources. We created a sexual and health resource guide, funded a dedicated public health nurse with a confidential line, and partnered with community partners to increase youth and young adult access to comprehensive sexual health education such as Cuidate, a cultural adaptation of Making Proud Choices. We also partnered with school dis- tricts as California’s passage in 2016 of Assembly Bill 329 mandated that schools provide comprehensive sexual health education in middle and high school. One area we are working to improve is the stronger enlistment of peers in outreach to other youth and young adults. 9. Healthy sexual development is not all about sex It is important to attend to the foundation of healthy sexual devel- opment by developing healthy relationships with peers and adults shaped by normalcy activity (see http://www.aecf.org/resources/ what-young-people-need-to-thrive/)

� We convened an internal Sponsor Group of the child welfare services director and four assistant direc- tors, and one assistant director who was also a member of the Project Coordination Team. This group was tasked with final approval of the recommendations from the Steering Committee. � We convened an internal Project Coordination Team—a senior manager, middle manager, policy analyst, supervisor, social worker, training coordinator, and super- vising public health nurse—all from child welfare services. This group served as the bridge between the Sponsor Group and the Steering Committee. It devel- oped joint agendas; completed diligence on recommendations; drafted prototypes of recommended practitioner tools and policy to reflect recommended elements; developed a training curriculum for social workers to reflect recom- mended elements; coordinated logistics to implement Sponsor Group–approved recommenda- tions; developed and implemented marketing recommendations; completed continuous quality improvement tasks; shared their knowledge with other counties; collaborated with community partners to optimize recommended interventions; pursued emergent opportunities such as grant funding; and delivered policy and

Figure 3: Pregnancy Prevention as a Breakthrough Strategy for SuccessfulTransition to Adulthood – Another View

Youth/young adults access sexual/reproductive health resources.

Youth/young adults engage with “askable adults”.

Fewer youth/ young adults have mistimed/unintended pregnancies that may inhibit their path to socio-economic security—to successful transition to adulthood.

Youth/young adults use the most appropriate forms of contraception to decide when to get pregnant, and to prevent STI.

Youth/young adults are aware & informed of sexual/ reproductive health rights, information and resources.

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