On Tuesday, June 30th, IWES was named as one of 49 organizations across 26 states that received a collective total of $56.3 million dollars in grant awards under the Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs’ Optimally Changing the Map for Teen Pregnancy Prevention (Tier 1) initiative. Using a systems-thinking approach to replicate effective programs, Tier 1 grantees will work to improve the optimal health of adolescents and reduce unintended pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections. Building upon 10 years of providing adolescent health education and as a three-time awardee of grant funding under the federal teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) initiative, IWES is setting out to implement a scaled-up, re-imagined version of its trauma-informed Believe in Youth - Louisiana (BY-LA) program—BY-LA 2.0.

As an expanded holistic, multi-prong initiative, BY-LA 2.0 will include:

• Replication of two evidence-based interventions, Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Ed That Works among youth in Grades 6-8 and Reducing the Risk: Building Skills to Prevent Pregnancy, STDs & HIV among youth in Grade 9

• Supplementation of adolescent reproductive health education with mental and emotional wellness processing and skill-building

• Engagement of caregivers and families as key influencers in adolescents’ healthy decision-making

• Linkage of youth and families to coordinated adolescent and family-centered services 

• Collaboration with and capacity-building of stakeholders, community partners, school leaders, and service providers to maximize reach and programmatic impacts 

Based on concerning teen birth and STI rates, and a lack of adolescent sexual and reproductive health education in the following areas, BY-LA 2.0 will be available to youth and families in the following locations in Louisiana: Orleans parish (Region 1); East Baton Rouge parish (Region 2); St. John, St. James, and St. Charles parishes (Region 3); and, Terrebonne parish (Region 3) and Caddo parish (Region 7) by the end of the project period. Since we have a history of implementing programs focused on optimal health, training and technical assistance will be offered to partners across middle and high schools, community-based organizations, mentorship programs, and juvenile justice programs to become not only implementation sites but also implementing partners. Through BY-LA 2.0, IWES aims to serve 3,183 youth in Year 1, 6,386 youth in Year 2, and 9,550 youth in Year 3. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, BY-LA 2.0 staff are devising strategies for remote/distance learning and exploring the use of digital platforms to conduct programming and provide supportive services to youth, their parents/caregivers, and families. We look forward to bringing these latest implementation models to youth in our state. 

Recruitment for the 2020-2021 school year has begun! If you or your site are interested in receiving BY-LA 2.0 training and/or implementation, please contact Dr. Kenyatta Parker, IWES’ Director of Adolescent Health.