Street Smart
Program
Overview
Street Smart is an HIV/AIDS and STD prevention intervention originally developed for runaway and homeless youth. This program is easily adaptable to other at-risk youth target populations. Your staff may use this skills-building program to help youth learn skills to reduce their unprotected sex acts, numbers of sex partners, and substance use. It utilizes a cognitive-behavioral approach and is based on social learning theory.
 Street
Smart is a ten-session skills-building group intervention designed to help
youth practice safer sexual behaviors and reduce their substance use. The
program consists of eight 1 ½ to 2 hour group sessions, one individual
counseling session, and one visit to a community based organization that
provides healthcare. Topics and skills addressed in the group sessions
include coping and negotiation skills, assertiveness, problem solving,
identifying and addressing personalized risk behaviors, decision making
and reducing harmful behaviors including drug and alcohol use. Group
members participate in scripted and non-scripted role plays, activities,
and video production.
Click on each topic below to learn more about Street Smart:
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Core Elements
Core elements refers to those
aspects of an intervention that are believed to be responsible
for the effectiveness of the intervention.
The core elements of the Street Smart program include:
- Enhancing affective and cognitive
awareness, expression, and control;
- Teaching HIV/AIDS risk hierarchy and its
personal application;
- Identifying personal triggers, using
peer support and small group skills-building sessions;
- Building participant’s skills in problem
solving, personal assertiveness, and HIV/AIDS harm reduction.
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Target Population
The Street Smart program was developed to target runaway and
homeless youth, ages 11 to 18 who are at-risk for HIV. Capacity
building assistance can be provided to help agencies adapt
Street Smart for use with other groups of youth.
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Program Materials
The following materials are
provided for agency staff who attend the Street Smart training
program:
- Facilitator training manual (for
program staff)
- Orientation video (for program staff)
- Workbook for participants
- Sample social marketing and
recruitment materials
- Handouts for participants
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Research Results
After Street Smart was implemented, it yielded these results:
- Participants reported lower rates of
substance use and unprotected sex acts.
- After the group sessions, young
women self reported greater reductions in substance abuse and
unprotected sex acts than young men.
- African-American youth self-reported
less substance use than youth of other ethnic groups.
Reducing HIV Risk Among
Runaway & Homeless Youth
FACT SHEET
Rotheram-Borus, M., Van Rossem, R.,
Gwadz, M., Koopman, C., Lee, M. (1997). Reductions in HIV risk
among runaway youths. Los Angeles, University of California,
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Social and Community
Psychiatry, Los Angeles, CA.
Rotheram-Borus, M.J., Song, J., Gwadz, M., Lee, M., Van Rossem,
R., Koopman, C. (1993). Reductions in HIV Risk Among Runaway
Youth. Prevention Science, 4(3), 173-187.
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Agency Readiness Self-Assessment
This
brief
self-assessment tool is intended to assist agencies (e.g.,
Community-based Organizations) to determine if they currently
possess the capacity, or can build the capacity, to adopt and
implement the Street Smart intervention.
Agency
Readiness Self-Assessment
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How To Register
For more information on how to register for a future training,
please visit
www.effectiveinterventions.org.
If you do not have access to the web, you may also call (800)
462-9521, or email
interventions@aed.org..
Draft PDF Brochure
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