School Health Equity Newsletter – April 2013

Feature: NCSD Materials for STD Awareness Month

April is STD Awareness Month! Join the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) in honoring the month by participating in a number of activities to bring attention to STD prevention, testing, and treatment. This year, NCSD is utilizing the theme, “STD Prevention: We All Have a Role,” to  emphasize how educators, parents, youth advocates, HIV/AIDS organizations, physicians, legislators, health departments, and researchers all have a role to play in reducing the impact of STDs. Check out various materials and resources for STD Awareness Month here, including a sample op-ed which can be used in your state, city, or territory.

In addition, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) refreshed STD Awareness Resource Site. This website was created for STD prevention partners and stakeholders to support STD prevention outreach.

Capacity Building and Professional Development

Technical Assistance: Foundations of Grant Writing. Join the Office of Minority Health Resource Center (OMHRC) for this capacity building webinar. Organizations will learn how to write a strong federal grant proposal during this webinar. Objectives of the webinar include identifying key steps to apply for federal grants, reviewing the critical elements of proposals, and providing guidance for internal evaluations of proposals. The webinar will be held on April 25, 2013 from 4:00PM – 5:30PM EST. To register for the webinar, click here.

Rapid HIV Testing On-Line Training Course. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new online “Rapid HIV Testing Training Course” offers an opportunity for HIV Prevention Providers working in non-clinical settings to gain knowledge and skills on administering rapid HIV testing. The four modules offer training on the overview for rapid HIV testing, safe work practices and specimen collection, quality assurance and quality control, and HIV prevention counseling. All materials in the course are based on CDC guidelines, protocols, and established best practices related to HIV testing, as seen in clinical and non-clinical settings. For more information about how to access the on-line training, click here.

Reducing Teen Pregnancy in the United States. While teen birth rates in the U.S. have declined to the lowest rates seen in seven decades, they are still nine times higher than in most other developed countries. As part of CDC’s monthly presentation series, Public Health Grand Rounds, this webinar examines the need for broad-based efforts in teen pregnancy prevention including evidence-based sexual health education, support for parents in talking with their children about pregnancy prevention, and ready access to effective and affordable contraception for teens who are sexually active. To access the archived webinar and download the webinar slides, click here.

Grant Opportunities

FY13 Announcement of Anticipated Availability of Funds for Integrating Routine HIV Testing and Linkage to HIV Care and Treatment in Family Planning Services Grants. This funding announcement is from the Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund (SMAIF) and Title X appropriations to support grants for Title X family planning services projects to provide high impact HIV prevention integrated with Title X family planning services. The application deadline is May 10, 2013. For more information about this grant opportunity click here.

National Network to Enhance Capacity of State and Local Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Programs (NNECS). The purpose of this FOA is to fund a national STD membership organization to enhance workforce and operational capacity of state, local, and territorial STD programs. The application deadline is June 16, 2013. To review the application and apply, click here.

Recent Publications

Vital Signs: Repeat Births Among Teens – United States, 2007-2010. To assess patterns of repeat childbearing and postpartum contraceptive use among teens, CDC analyzed natality data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) from 2007–2010. The study found that although the prevalence of repeat teen birth has declined in recent years, nearly one in five teen births is a repeat birth. Large disparities exist in repeat teen births and use of the most effective contraceptive methods postpartum, which was reported by fewer than one out of four teen mothers. As a result, evidence-based approaches are needed to reduce repeat childbearing. These include linking pregnant and parenting teens to home visiting and similar programs that address a broad range of needs, and offering postpartum contraception to teens, including long-acting methods of reversible contraception. To read the full report, click here.

A Longitudinal Study of Youth Assets, Neighborhood Conditions, and Youth Sexual Behaviors. The purpose of this study was to prospectively determine whether individual, family, and community assets help youth delay initiation of sexual intercourse, and for youth who do initiate intercourse, to use birth control and avoid pregnancy. The potential influence of neighborhood conditions was also investigated. The study determined that programming to strengthen youth assets may be a promising strategy for reducing youth sexual risk behaviors. To access the article, click here.

Sexual Minority-Related Victimization as a Mediator of Mental Health Disparities in Sexual Minority Youth: A Longitudinal Analysis. Sexual minority youth report significantly higher rates of depression and suicidality than heterosexual youth. The study therefore used longitudinal mediation models to test sexual minority-specific victimization as a potential explanatory mechanism of mental health disparities of sexual minority youth. Results of the study support the minority stress hypothesis that targeted harassment and victimization are partly responsible for the higher levels of depressive symptoms and suicidality found in sexual minority youth. To access the full article, click here.

Announcements/News

EMPOWERED: a New Campaign From Alicia Keys & Greater Than AIDS to Reach Women on HIV/AIDS. On April 15, 2013, the Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a webcast to introduce EMPOWERED, a new campaign by Grammy Award-winning artist and HIV activist Alicia Keys and the Kaiser Family Foundation to reach women about HIV/AIDS. To view the archived video of the webcast, click here. To learn more about the EMPOWERED campaign, click here.

Advocates Seek Revamp to South Carolina Sex Ed Law. A coalition of nonprofit organizations has proposed a bill to revamp South Carolina’s 20-year-old comprehensive sex education law. The proposed changes would require “medically accurate and factual” sexual health education and mandate health education certification for teachers. Furthermore, the bill stipulates that sexual health education classes may present only information validated by peer-reviewed research or “mainstream” medical and health organizations. The new bill would also require the “abstinence plus” model that emphasizes abstinence until marriage and provides age-appropriate safer sex techniques, such as condom use. To read the full story, click here.

Resources