On Nov. 28-29, 2016, the APA Safe and Supportive Schools Project along with Advocates for Youth and the National Coalition of STD Directors hosted a two-day institute at the APA, with leaders from 16 CDC/DASH-funded state departments of education from around the country. State leaders learned strategies for sustaining school-based HIV/STD and pregnancy prevention programs in their combined more than 200 school districts.
Participants reported feeling more prepared to:
- Work toward the sustainability of school-based HIV/STD activities beyond the end of the CDC/DASH cooperative agreement.
- Apply evidence-based practices to support the sustainability of programs.
- Effectively communicate to stakeholders the value of school-based HIV/STD and pregnancy prevention.
Participants felt the institute would help them in their work in schools:
- “The institute supported my understanding of other states' work and provided living examples of how to do sustainability work.”
- “[The institute] helped renew my commitment to the work (HIV/STD prevention in schools).”
State participants agreed to work toward these sustainability goals: to pass state guidance to support LGBTQ students, to offer professional development to teachers about supporting transgender students, to increase the number of schools with school-based health centers, and to develop state-level comprehensive K-12 sexual health education standards.
Details and highlights are available from the Advocates for Youthopens in new window.