The Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Grant Program: Understanding Implementation Experiences
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- Published: 2024
Introduction
The Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) grant program—a federally funded adolescent pregnancy prevention initiative administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Family and Youth Services Bureau—teaches youth how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. The program was first funded by Congress through a discretionary grant program in 2016 (General Departmental grant recipients) and through the reauthorization of Title V in 2018 (Title V State and Competitive grant recipients). This report reflects SRAE programming offered by grant recipients, providers, and facilitators who had SRAE funding and were delivering SRAE programming at the time of survey administration during the 2022—2023 school year.
Purpose
The SRAE National Evaluation (SRAENE) team, led by Mathematica, created the report using data from Title V State grant recipients and subrecipients, Title V Competitive grant recipients, General Departmental grant recipients, SRAE program facilitators, and SRAE program participants.
The primary audience for this report includes those who support SRAE program efforts nationwide, including federal staff, state staff, and provider organizations. The information presented may also be of interest to policymakers, researchers, and academics working in the broader sexual risk avoidance field.
Key Findings and Highlights
This report covers the following key topics:
- Changes grant recipients and their subrecipient providers made to their plans after initial program implementation experiences, and why
- Receptivity of schools and communities, facilitators, and youth to curricular content
- How grant recipients and their subrecipient providers interpreted and addressed the six topics areas specified in the Title V legislation (referred to as the A—F requirements)
Methods
Mathematica collected and analyzed online survey data from 38 Title V State grant recipients, 331 Title V State grant subrecipients, Title V Competitive grant recipients, and General Departmental grant recipients, and 535 facilitators. The research team also collected and analyzed data from 120 youth who participated in 18 focus groups.
Citation
Neelan, Theresa, Betsy Keating, Lindsey M. Bryant, Katie Hunter, Erin Boyle, Briana Starks, and Susan Zief. “The Sexual Risk Avoidance Education National Evaluation: Understanding Program Implementation Experiences.” OPRE Report #2023-307. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023.