APP Connect, March 2022
APP Connect, March 2022 March 17, 2022 | Volume 7 | No. 1
APP Corner
We recognize Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month each February. One in three teens will endure emotional, physical, or sexual abuse from a partner before they reach adulthood. This can result in suicidal thoughts, antisocial behaviors, depression and anxiety, and unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and drug use. APP encourages all grantees to learn to recognize the signs of teen dating violence and incorporate solutions into their programming. The Exchange offers information, tools and resources for grantees, other youth-serving providers, and youth themselves to get involved and be informed, and to bring awareness to this important issue.
We completed the SRAE Topical Training sessions on February 15-17, which will be followed by PREP Topical Training sessions on April 6, 13 and 20. Planning for the 2022 Virtual APP Grantee Conference is in full swing. Below, you’ll find an update on how things are shaping up.
The APP Program recently welcomed four new Project Officers to the team — Kathleen Derrick, Cheri Thompson, Brittany Julius, and Tecia Sellers. And we’re especially happy to announce a new Associate Commissioner to the FYSB family — Kimberly Waller.
So, just like the coming of spring, there is a lot going on in the APP Program. Read on to learn about some of our innovative projects, what grantees are working on, discover recently released resources to support your programs. As always, we are grateful for your dedication and commitment to the APP mission.
Spotlight
Kimberly A. Waller, Associate Commissioner, FYSB, ACYF
Ms. Waller joined the Biden Administration in December 2021 as the Associate Commissioner for the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Prior to this post, Ms. Waller served as a senior policy advisor in the District of Columbia's interagency council on homelessness, where she led the implementation of the District’s strategic plans to prevent and end youth and family homelessness. In this role, Ms. Waller applied an integrated, interagency approach to coordinating diverse systems impacting service delivery for children, youth, and families.
Ms. Waller previously worked as an advisor at FYSB where she led policy, legislative, and regulatory initiatives on matters related to youth experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. She began her career in the United States Senate where she advised on health and human services initiatives. In addition to her federal experience, Ms. Waller also has extensive local and state level experience developing and implementing child welfare and human services policies. She served as a senior policy attorney with the Children’s Law Center in the District of Columbia and a fellow at the University of Michigan Law School.
Ms. Waller holds a JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a BASW from the University of Pittsburgh.
Program Highlights
What’s Going on with the APP Grantee Conference?
Don’t forget to Save The Date for the 2022 Grantee Conference which will be held Tuesday, June 28 — Thursday, June 30. As you might imagine, APP staff and the 14 members of the Grantee Planning Committee are working hard to deliver another exceptional APP Grantee Conference in 2022.
One of the difficult tasks this year’s committee faced was determining whether we will be able to hold a LIVE event in Atlanta, or, if circumstances dictate that we once again hold the conference virtually. The decision is in and, with the health and safety of our grantees a priority, 2022 will be a virtual-only conference. Although we all relish the opportunity to gather in person, we also look forward to offering an inspiring and engaging virtual conference again.
This year’s theme is “Leading with Equity: Creating Spaces Where all Youth Can Succeed” and will present six tracks ranging from program implementation and innovation to family engagement and adaptations. Grantees and potential exhibitors should have received the Call for Abstracts by email on Wednesday, February 23. Visit the Call for Abstracts submission page, review our conference objectives, and submit your materials by midnight Friday, March 18, 2022. Check The Exchange for updates and additional details on the conference.
Training & Resources on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in APP Programming
Shortly after his inauguration, President Biden released an Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) mission is fully integrated with a wide range of issues that impact the ability of children and their families to thrive and reach their full potential. Fittingly, ACF makes equity a central part of how we operate and deliver on our mission; pursue a robust approach to advance equity across our programs and processes; and engage parents, youth, and families to inform our strategy.
DEI has been a focus of the Family & Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) even prior to the new administration and it has been at the foundation of providing services to the youth, families, and communities we serve.
Advancing Racial Equity was the focus of last year’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month and the 2021 APP Grantee Conference featured several sessions on creating equity, gender affirming care, and gender literacy. We also hosted Tribal PREP Grantee Talking Circles on Promising Practices within Tribal Communities and Virtual Storytelling for Sustainability: Disseminating and Communicating Your Findings, and just a few weeks ago, a webinar titled Creating Safe and Inclusive Spaces for LGBTQ+ Youth.
The We Think Twice movement is also engaged in promoting DEI among its audience of 13—19 year old’s’ on Insta @WeThinkTwice and Facebook #WeThink2 .
In our continued efforts to help APP grantees walk this journey with us, check out some additional resources and activities to support DEI in our programming efforts.
- SRAE Cluster Call on Diversity and Inclusion
- Creating Safe Spaces: A Facilitator’s Guide to Trauma-Informed Programming
- Our Goals; Our Lives video series
- Toolkit for Engaging Parents and Caregivers in Optimal Health Programming
- Creating Inclusive Spaces: A Facilitator’s Guide to Equity and Inclusion in the Classroom (under development)
- LGBTQ Youth of Color Roundtable Video (under development)
Visit The Exchange Resource Gallery for more content on LGBTQ+ Youth, Minority Youth, and other DEI assets.
Grantee Spotlights
Horizons Unlimited: Expanding Your SRAE Program Beyond Your Community
Successful, well-established programs are often eager to expand their efforts and reach more youth outside the communities where they are known and trusted. But where do you start to build relationships and engagement with new partners to drive expansion?
The project leaders at Pregnancy Alternatives Center with the Obria Group, Inc. in Lebanon, Oregon, set their sights on expanding their SRAE program into two new cities. They started by identifying a known and trusted high school principal in each city. Project leaders shared how their program has benefited students in Lebanon and the positive outcomes that could be realized in the new communities. Both principals enthusiastically accepted the offer to promote the program. Obria hired the principals as ambassadors and equipped them with a custom video made exclusively on Obria’s program.
The video has become a creative and effective way for these new “principal ambassadors” to recruit schools by encouraging educators and administrators to consider implementing the Obria program. The effort has been successful despite the limits of COVID-19 protocols, even at the end of the school year when it was hard to meet with school personnel. The video, accompanied by a well-crafted introductory letter, helped these trusted principals open the door to new schools and new community partners.
If you’d like to know more about this program please contact Debbie Tracy, CEO at debbie@obriaoregon.org.
PREIS Grantee’s Vision of You Program Delivers on Innovation
"It" is Merriam-Webster’s definition of gamification . Have you thought about implementing an online, self-paced, sexual health education program? Have you wondered if gamification is an effective strategy to reduce risky sexual behaviors? If you answered yes to either of those questions, check out how James Madison University developed “Vision of You,” an evidence-based, interactive, sexuality education program that was rigorously evaluated with 790 youth in 23 sites across Virginia and found to be effective in increasing condom use and reducing the number of sexual partners.
Using Entertainment & Gamification in Education
The Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services at James Madison University (JMU) implemented the state-wide Virginia Personal Responsibility Education Program Innovative Strategies (VPREIS) project that served youth residing in areas of Virginia with high teen birth rates and elevated risk factors for experiencing or causing a teen pregnancy and contracting sexually transmitted infections. JMU adapted the promising Vision of You (VOY) curriculum into a self-paced, online intervention based on the principles of gamification. The program was implemented and rigorously evaluated using a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The target population for this study was youth between the ages of 13 and 19 who were being educated in non-traditional settings, including: 1) youth serving sentences in Virginia’s juvenile detention centers; 2) youth attending alternative education and/or night school programs; 3) youth referred to Community Services Board programs; and 4) youth receiving services from third-party service providers. The project involved 23 sites and 790 youth across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The VOY program addresses comprehensive sexuality education as well as healthy life skills and relationships using engaging video, animation, interactive components, and gamification principles. The interactive learning elements include avatars, games, infographics, videos, anatomy explorer, gateway quizzes, character scenarios, and reflection questions. The program consists of nine 45-minute units over four to six weeks for a total of 6.75 hours of programming. The units cover the following topics:
- Concepts of identity
- Healthy relationships and red flags for unsafe relationships
- Communication with trusted adults
- Providing and requesting consent
- Reproductive anatomy and medical treatment
- STI prevention
- Clinic visits
- Methods of protection
- Setting and achieving future goals
The evaluation of VOY aimed to assess the following behavioral outcomes, as measured by self-report at a 9-month post-program data collection point: Occurrence of sexual activity, number of sexual partners, and occurrence of contraceptive use. The results of the RCT conducted over the past four years indicate the VOY program had a positive effect on two of the three main behavioral outcomes of interest: number of sexual partners and occurrence of contraception use. Regarding both outcomes, the treatment group youth engaged significantly less in these risky behaviors (number of sexual partners and neglecting to use contraception) than youth in the control group. A third behavioral outcome, rate of recent sexual activity, was not found to be significantly impacted by participating in the VOY program. Regarding the non-behavioral outcome, future orientation, there was a small but significant difference between the treatment group and control group at the 9-month data collection mark.
The VOY program was implemented with near-target fidelity. In all, 71% of the youth completed all nine units of the curriculum, with 83% completing at least seven units of the program. Further, as the program was intended to be completed in four to six weeks, another fidelity measure of program duration was collected: Over the three years of program implementation, 82% of youth completed the program within six weeks. To gauge program satisfaction, youth were asked how much they liked the Vision of You program compared to other, similar programs. Overall, 82% of the youth who responded to the item liked the program “much better” or “a little bit better” than other programs. Further, most youth (78%) reported liking it “much better.”
We are excited to continue disseminating the results of our study. Please contact hartzlkm@jmu.edu if you are interested in learning more about the Vision of You program!
Tools for Youth
We Think Twice Continues Its Winning Ways
Recently, we asked teens to create a video about challenges they’ve faced and how they conquered them. Check out their Inspiring Teen Stories: Our Goals, Our Lives.
And now, congratulations to all the winners of WTT’s Hobby How-to Contest. Visit WTT @WeThinkTwice for the announcement and more entries.
In November 2021, we debuted our “Ask the Experts” session with Dr. Anthony Fauci which was a resounding success, logging more than 1.5 million viewers. Let your program participants know…we’ll be hosting an Ask the Experts on Sexual Health & STDs Health with Dr. Vincent Guilamo-Ramos in the coming months followed by a session on Youth Mental Health.
You will find inspiration on topics like mental health, relationships, smart choices, and more. With all these great tools geared towards helping youth make informed, healthy decisions, it’s no wonder @WeThinkTwice has reached over 4.6 million viewers, welcomed 65,000+ unique visitors, and recently eclipsed…Three. Thousand. Followers.