Description
The General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GDSRAE) Program aims to fund projects that create and provide sexual risk avoidance education to teach youth how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. The program targets areas with high rates of teen births and/or high risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The goals of GDSRAE include empowering participants to make healthy decisions, providing tools and resources to prevent pregnancy, STIs, and youth engagement in other risky behaviors, and teaching the benefits associated with self-regulation, goal setting, and healthy relationships. Key requirements for the program include:
• Ensuring all content emphasizes avoiding non-marital sexual activity as optimal health behavior
• Using medically accurate and complete information
• Providing an evidence-based approach to integrate research findings with practical implementation
• Teaching the benefits of personal responsibility, self-regulation, and goal setting
• Teaching how to resist and avoid sexual coercion and dating violence
• Being age-appropriate and culturally sensitive
The program will fund a three-year project period, with a minimum award amount of $300,000 and a maximum award amount of $450,000. The expected project start date is September 30, 2026.