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Best Practices in Teen Pregnancy
Prevention Practitioner Handbook
Fe Moncloa
4-H Youth Development Advisor
San Jose, California
Internet Address: fxmoncloa@ucdavis.edu
Marilyn Johns
4-H Youth Development/NFCS Advisor
Half Moon Bay, California
Internet Address: mjjohns@ucdavis.edu
Elizabeth J. Gong
Program Representative
San Jose, California
Internet Address: ejgong@ucdavis.edu
Stephen Russell
4-H Youth Development Specialist
Davis, California
Internet Address: strussell@ucdavis.edu
Faye Lee
Youth Development/NFCS Advisor
San Bruno, California
Internet Address: fhlee@ucdavis.edu
Estella West
Nutrition, Family and Consumer Sciences Advisor
San Jose, California
Internet Address: eawest@ucdavis.edu
University of California Cooperative
Extension
Introduction
The Best Practices in Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Practitioner Handbook presents 10 best practices
that the authors synthesized from the literature and
from the field. Specifically, in developing the 10
"best practices" the authors:
- Conducted an exhaustive review of the research
literature on effective teen pregnancy prevention,
- Surveyed 35 practitioners to assess their view
of "best practices," and
- Visited 12 local teen pregnancy prevention programs
in the San Francisco Bay Area, including schools,
community-based agencies, and health care agencies
to identify their effective teen pregnancy prevention
strategies.
The handbook was developed for community practitioners
in an effort to enhance program content and delivery.
The authors acknowledge that no single practice or
intervention will work for all teens. Holistic, comprehensive,
and flexible approaches are needed. The handbook is
easy to read, and each best practice includes:
- Key Research Findings,
- Program Recommendations, and
- Tips from the Field.
The appendix contains information on developmental
assets, cognitive and social development of adolescents,
and a referenced list of promising teen pregnancy
prevention programs in the U.S.
The 10 Best Practices
-
Youth Development focuses on providing
young people with skills that will help them succeed
as adults. One of the most promising approaches
to reducing teenage pregnancy is to improve educational
and career opportunities for teens and to instill
a belief in a successful future.
-
Involvement of Family and Other Caring Adults
matters when it comes to affecting a teenager's
sexual behavior and the risk of early pregnancy.
Family involvement maximizes the effectiveness
of pregnancy prevention programs.
-
Male Involvement acknowledges the critical
role males play in unintended and early pregnancies
among teenagers, and involves them in pregnancy
prevention efforts.
-
Cultural Relevant interventions will increase
the effectiveness of efforts to reduce teenage
pregnancy because culture plays a major role in
influencing values and attitudes about sex, child
bearing, and parenting.
-
Community-Wide Campaigns to discourage
adolescent pregnancy and childbearing are needed
because practitioners work with complex social
issues such as teenage pregnancy, violence, alcohol,
and substance abuse. Single solutions are inadequate.
-
Service Learning connects meaningful community
service with academic learning, civic responsibility,
and personal growth. It enables young people to
study community issues in-depth, plan and initiate
community action, and make a difference in their
community.
-
Increasing Employment Opportunities for
adolescents is necessary to assure economic self-sufficiency,
generate self-esteem, and create the motivation
to delay early childbearing.
-
Sexuality and AIDS Education plays an
important role in providing youth with the knowledge
and skills necessary to make healthy decisions
about their intimate relationships.
-
Outreach in Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs
that focuses on sexual health is critical. The
risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
are high in the early months of sexual activity,
and teens have the tendency to not seek help before
a crisis occurs.
-
Access to Reproductive Health Services is
important for sexually active teenagers since
they need support and encouragement to use contraception
effectively and consistently.
Distribution and Use
The authors distributed this handbook to schools,
community-based and health agencies in their
counties and with statewide partners. Authors have
distributed this handbook through countywide teen
pregnancy coalitions and national conferences such
as BAPPS and CYFAR. Evidence of the usefulness of
the handbook includes its use by San Mateo
County Pregnancy Prevention network in developing
criteria to award local grants.
The authors used this handbook to partner with and
educate six local teen pregnancy prevention programs,
to strengthen their capacity to deliver improved programs
by incorporating the "best practices" identified
in this handbook.
The authors provided technical assistance in the
adoption and implementation of at least one "best
practice" and in program evaluation. In this
way, we renewed our historic role as providers of
science-based information in response to a contemporary
need in our communities.
To order, send a check for $7.50 per copy payable
to U.C. Regents to the address below:
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
University of California Cooperative Extension
700 Empey Way
San Jose, CA 95127
Phone: 408-299-2630 Extension 1006
Email: fxmoncloa@ucdavis.edu
This article is online at http://www.joe.org/joe/2003april/tt1.shtml.
Copyright © by Extension
Journal, Inc. ISSN 1077-5315. Articles appearing in the Journal become
the property of the Journal. Single copies of articles may be reproduced
in electronic or print form for use in educational or training activities.
Inclusion of articles in other publications, electronic sources, or systematic
large-scale distribution may be done only with prior electronic or written
permission of the Journal Editorial Office, joe-ed@joe.org.
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