Youth Services Tulsa awarded $2.1 million to combat teen pregnancy
By MIKE AVERILL World Staff Writer on Oct 12, 2010, at 2:26 AM Updated on 9/12/12 at 1:51 PM
Local
Her biological father from Oklahoma and her adoptive parents from South Carolina spent several hours Monday and Tuesday on the sixth floor of the state's Kerr office building, where the Court of Civil Appeals meets in Tulsa.
A cause of the fire is under investigation.
Youth Services of Tulsa has been awarded a federal grant to help combat teen pregnancy.
The $2.1 million grant - paid over five years - from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Health, will allow the agency to expand its staff and programming.
With Oklahoma ranking fifth nationally in teen births, Youth Services is addressing the issue by replicating a curriculum called "Safe on the Outs," an evidence-based teen pregnancy program in Denver's juvenile detention facilities.
The new program, PregNot, will target sites around Tulsa including six Tulsa Housing Authority public housing communities, three programs of the Juvenile Bureau District Court of Tulsa County and five Youth Services programs.
"Teen moms are more likely to drop out of school, remain unmarried and live in poverty," said Jim Walker, the agency's executive director. "PregNot is an innovative and needed program in the Tulsa area. Our staff is prepared to tackle teen pregnancy by encouraging youth to make healthy and safer choices, specifically in regard to sexual behavior and alcohol use. Our specialists will hold two to three classes a week and will track outcomes at three-, six-, nine- and 12-month intervals."
Three or four full-time health education specialists will be added to the agency's Health and Education Prevention program that has provided sex education and HIV prevention information to at-risk youth for more than 10 years.
For more information, call 582-0061 or go online to
tulsaworld.com/yst
Mike Averill 581-8489
mike.averill@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Grant to fund teen pregnancy programs
Local
Her biological father from Oklahoma and her adoptive parents from South Carolina spent several hours Monday and Tuesday on the sixth floor of the state's Kerr office building, where the Court of Civil Appeals meets in Tulsa.
A cause of the fire is under investigation.
