CAI is working with CDC, the original researchers, Drs. Ralph DiClemente and Richard Crosby, and a community advisory board (CAB) to develop implementation materials that will be piloted at a number of STD clinics throughout the country. The FOF CAB brings together a group of passionate and enthusiastic members of the target population, training and curriculum design experts, and administrators at STD clinics in New York City, Atlanta, and South Carolina to discuss and refine marketing materials, FOF processes, and curriculum to be used in the implementation materials.

The New York Walk attracted more than 3,900 participants from 46 states and Washington, D.C., as well as the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, and Bermuda. Participants included 420 breast cancer survivors, joined together to raise lifesaving funds and awareness for breast cancer.

At the closing ceremonies, the Avon Foundation Breast Health Outreach Program (Avon BHOP), the Avon Foundation's hallmark national breast cancer education and screening program, received $6 million. This grant will support more than 125 community-based groups across the country projected to navigate more than 125,000 people into mammography screening and clinical breast exams in 2011. The funds also help reach a half million people in outreach awareness efforts and educational encounters.

Avon BHOP Deputy Director Mary Grace Pagaduan accepted the grant. CAI has managed this grant for the Avon Foundation since 2000. More info can be found on the Avon BHOP website.

Training topics include the importance of maintaining HIV health care, understanding lab tests, treatments and medication adherence, consumer involvement in quality assurance activities, HIV disclosure, and dating/relationships.

For this winter's pilot of the YALWHA, the LTI is putting together three new groups, including a Young Adult Advisory Group, a Young Adult Mentors Group, and a Young Adult Provider Panel. For more information, go to the LTI website.

If you have ideas, suggestions, or resources that LTI can utilize for outreach and recruitment efforts, please contact the LTI Youth Organizer, Justin LiGreci, ext. 246, jligreci@cicatelli.org.

"These grants address a major problem facing American young people and their families," said DHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "Teen pregnancy short-circuits the futures of young parents and their children. It is critical that we work with states and communities to give our young people the tools and information they need to make wise decisions that will ensure their health and success."

CAI has worked with Columbus Wellness on HIV prevention projects since 2001 and is pleased to serve rural areas of Georgia through this new effort. The project will target 13-19 year-olds and replicate the evidence-based intervention "Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART)," which was designed primarily for African-American adolescents in non-school, community-based settings. It consists of eight sessions, 1.5-2 hours each, and includes interactive group discussions and role plays created by teens.

Although the focus of BART is HIV/AIDS prevention, the curriculum includes topics and activities related to teen pregnancy prevention. Teens learn to clarify their own values about sexual decisions and pressures as well as practice skills to reduce sexual risk-taking. These include correct condom use, assertive communication, refusal techniques, self-management, and problem solving. Also, abstinence is woven throughout the curriculum and is discussed as the best way to prevent HIV infection and pregnancy.

DFY is a multi-session, group-level intervention designed to reduce sexual risk behaviors among high-risk adolescents in group home settings. Based on the Theory of Reasoned Action and Social Cognitive Learning Theory, the intervention focuses on building skills that enable adolescents to make and maintain healthy decisions, thus enhancing their capacity to prevent unintended pregnancy and STD infections.

The intervention was originally developed in 1996 for the NYS Division for Youth (now called Division of Juvenile Justice and Opportunities for Youth) for use in group home settings. For over 20 years, NYS Division of Juvenile Justice has continued to utilize the intervention (sometimes pulling out only certain sessions and at other times using the entire intervention) in several of their group homes and residential programs.

With funding from the Office of Adolescent Health, CAI will demonstrate the efficacy of DFY as a teen pregnancy prevention intervention and conduct rigorous evaluation in order to assess its effectiveness in reducing sexual risk behaviors and unplanned pregnancy among at-risk teens, particularly in foster care settings.

The purpose of this program is to demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative, multi-component, community-wide initiatives in reducing the rates of unplanned teen pregnancies and births in communities with the highest rates, with a focus on African American and Latino/Hispanic youth ages 15-19.

Community-wide approaches will be tailored to each community and will include broad-based communication strategies and media campaigns targeting a majority of youth in the community. Implementation of evidence-based programs and improved links to services will attempt to reach youth most in need of prevention programming.

To facilitate the development of this community and to support them in achieving breakthrough improvement, CAI will use the IHI Collaborative Learning Model. CPPW teams will work over an 18-month period alternating between Learning Sessions, in which all the teams come together to learn about the chosen topic and plan changes, and Action Periods, wherein teams return to their communities to implement improvements and monitor progress in achieving desired outcomes. Technical assistance and coaching will be provided in between Learning Sessions. All initiative activities will be planned, implemented, evaluated and sustained by a Collaborative Planning Group led by NYC DOHMH and CAI comprised of 2-3 select champions from the CPPW teams.