“At Promise, Not At Risk”: An Evidence-based “Above the Waist” Approach to Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Format
Individual Presentation
Location
Savannah
Strand #1
Mental & Physical Health
Relevance
The Children’s Aid Society – Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program is an evidence-based, holistic approach to teen pregnancy prevention. This program model combines academic enrichment, exposure to the world of work, mental health services, family life and sexuality education, access to comprehensive medical and dental services, as well as lifetime individual sports and self-expression, as not only a means of preventing teen pregnancy, but of breaking the cycle of poverty and despair. The core components are in alignment with the all of the conference strands with particular emphasis on Strand IV, (Health: Mental & Physical - Promoting the mental and physical health of all children and youth especially for high-poverty population) given the connections between teen pregnancy and its impacts on overall health and well-being.
Brief Program Description
Guided by a philosophy that sees youth "at promise", not "at risk”, CAS-Carrera’s holistic, evidenced-based approach helps cultivate youth’s capacity and desire to avoid early pregnancy, and helps to break the cycle of poverty and despair.
This session, designed for youth development professionals will review the characteristics of effective, evidence-based programming and related insights on program implementation and scaling.
Summary
When young people become parents before they are ready, the impact can be devastating for the teens themselves, their families, and the larger society given the interconnected challenges of poverty, limited educational attainment, low employment rates, substance use and abuse, and overall poor health. The impact of teen pregnancy is also longitudinal with a rippling effect across generations. The U.S. still leads the developed world in teen pregnancy. In 2011, teen pregnancy alone cost U.S. tax payers more than 9.4 billion a year. • Each year, almost 750,000 U.S. teens aged 15–19 become pregnant. • 2,054 per day • 85 each hour • 57% give birth • 14% have a miscarriage • 29% have a pregnancy termination Reports from economic analysts suggest that implementing evidenced based prevention programs is an effective approach to help reduce teen pregnancy. This presentation will provide information and insights on evidence-based approaches and strategies to prevent teen pregnancy and will highlight the CAS-Carrera program model. CAS-Carrera is an example of an evidenced-based, primary adolescent pregnancy prevention program. The goal is to help young girls and boys avoid becoming mothers and fathers during the second decade of their lives. The program is guided by a philosophy that sees youth as "at promise" and not "at risk”; its holistic, “above the waist” approach seeks to develop a participant’s capacity and desire to not only avoid early pregnancy, but to break the cycle of poverty and despair. CAS-Carrera works with boys and girls 11-12 years old and follows them through high school graduation and college completion. This presentation will facilitate participant’s ability to: • Describe rates, trends, and impacts of teen pregnancy in the United States • Identify characteristics of effective, evidence based comprehensive approaches to teen pregnancy prevention • Describe core principles and philosophies that guide effective youth development programming • Describe the CAS-Carrera program model, its holistic, “above the waist” approach, it’s logic model and seven components, and its evaluation strategies and results • Understand strategies for localized implementation and scaling of evidenced-based programs
Evidence
CAS-Carrera has the distinction of being designated as a “Top Tier” program by the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in the United States Congress. The U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Adolescent Health included CAS-Carrera among the 28 models that HHS identified as evidence‐based, and only one of two models backed by well‐conducted randomized controlled trials showing a sustained impact on reducing teen pregnancy rates. The CAS-Carrera program is also the recipient of a Social Innovation Fund (SIF) award. Over the course of the program’s history, CAS-Carrera has been replicated or adapted in over 50 locations in 21 states. CAS-Carrera currently operates across 11 states including GA through a partnership with Morehouse Medical School. This proposed workshop session will highlight the essential elements of our program’s approach and provide insights on implementing and scaling such approaches.
Biographical Sketch
Michael A. Carrera, PhD
Dr. Michael A. Carrera is Thomas Hunter Professor Emeritus of Health Sciences at Hunter College of the City University of New York, and Adjunct Professor of Community Medicine at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. In 2013, Dr. Carrera was named Vice President, Adolescence Division of the Children’s Aid Society. Since 1970, Dr. Carrera has directed the Adolescent Sexuality and Pregnancy Prevention programs for The Children’s Aid Society in New York and founded the current evidence-based, award-winning Children’s Aid Society’s Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (CAS-Carrera) in 1984. He has designed and helped implement 50 long term, holistic, adolescent pregnancy prevention programs in twenty states throughout the country. In September 2010, the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health awarded nine agencies from eight states funds to replicate the CAS-Carrera program in their communities. In 2011, CAS-Carrera won a Social Innovation Fund award from the White House through the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Dr. Carrera has served as President of the Board of Directors of The Sex Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) from 1978-1982, and as President of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), 1978-1979. He has received numerous awards and honors including the AASECT National Award for Distinguished Service in Sexuality Education, Margaret Sanger Award in recognition of his leadership in furthering reproductive health and reproductive rights for all, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Dr. Richard J. Cross Award for outstanding contributions to the Human Sexuality field to Dr. Carrera. In 2009, Dr. Carrera received the Healthy Teen Network Award for enriching the lives of young people. Other awards include: the CWLA Florence Crittenton Award for his exemplary work in Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, the Advocates for Youth Supernova Award and the 2013 Center for Family Life Education award for Sex Ed Impact which is given to an individual who has positively impacted the field of sexuality education.
Shelia Reich, MSW
Shelia Reich is the Sr. Assistant Director for National Expansion and Quality Assurance for the Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program. Shelia holds a Master’s in Social Work as well as a bachelor’s in psychology. She has extensive experience in social services and the development and implementation of national, state and local adolescent health initiatives. Shelia has always been an advocate for social justice and change and has in the past worked with agencies like the American Red Cross, The National Association of Social Workers ,The National Black Women’s Health Project and the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc. She is currently a member of the Senior Leadership Team at the Carrera National Training Center, and is responsible for fidelity management of all program replications and Carrera initiatives outside of New York. Shelia ensures that the team and enterprise reflect the core philosophy and values of the Carrera program and that the highest standard of services is being provided to young people.
Ronald Skeete, MEd
Ronald Skeete currently is the GA Fidelity Manager for the Children’s Aid Society (CAS)- Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program. In this capacity he provides training, TA, and overall fidelity management services for program partners implementing CAS-Carrera. Mr. Skeete is an experienced not-for-profit executive with over fifteen years in the field. He holds a Master’s of Science in Education as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Economics. Ronald Skeete is a member of the Georgia Charter School Association, 100 Black Men of North Metro Atlanta, Georgia Public-Private Partnership For Teen Pregnancy Prevention (P3), Vice Chair of Atlanta Heights Charter School and a National Trainer for the Boys & Girls Club of America teaching to clubs across the country. Ronald Skeete also serves as Vice Chair of Atlanta Heights Charter School and a National Trainer for the Boys & Girls Club of America teaching to clubs across the country.
Presentation Year
2015
Start Date
3-2-2015 10:30 AM
End Date
3-2-2015 11:45 AM
Recommended Citation
Carrera, Michael; Reich, Shelia; Skeete, Ronald; and Brown, Mersedes, "“At Promise, Not At Risk”: An Evidence-based “Above the Waist” Approach to Teen Pregnancy Prevention" (2015). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 199.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2015/2015/199
“At Promise, Not At Risk”: An Evidence-based “Above the Waist” Approach to Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Savannah
Guided by a philosophy that sees youth "at promise", not "at risk”, CAS-Carrera’s holistic, evidenced-based approach helps cultivate youth’s capacity and desire to avoid early pregnancy, and helps to break the cycle of poverty and despair.
This session, designed for youth development professionals will review the characteristics of effective, evidence-based programming and related insights on program implementation and scaling.
