South Texas Teen Leadership & Development
South Texas Teen Leadership & Development
In 2021
0
Teens served
through TOP®
0
Teens served
through Love Notes
0
Teens served
through Saffer Sex
Intervention (SSI)
0
Community
Service Hours
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The South Texas Teen Leadership & Development (STTLD) Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs. The goal of the program is to reduce the rate of teen births along with the associated behavioral risks by providing positive youth development, abstinence, and contraception education in Brooks, Duval, Jim Hogg, and Jim Wells Counties. To help meet this goal, STTLD replicates three evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs: the Teen Outreach Program (TOP®) in middle schools, Love Notes in high schools, and Safer Sex Intervention (SSI) in CACOST’s Federally Qualified Health Centers and Resource Centers in Alice, Benavides, Freer, Falfurrias, Hebbronville, Premont, and San Diego. TOP® and Love Notes are the only school-based curricula and are primarily implemented with 7th and 9th-grade students, respectively. CACOST facilitators meet weekly in select district classrooms to implement TOP® or Love Notes with students who have parental consent.
Teen Outreach Program
Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program (TOP®) is a nationally recognized evidence-based best practice program targeting children from the 6th-12th grade. TOP® has been proven effective in increasing school success, preventing teen pregnancy and empowering teens to lead successful lives and build bonds. The program is designed to help build teens’ educational success, life and leadership skills, and healthy behaviors and relationships. The curriculum is complemented by structured community service learning activities that provide teens with the opportunity to build life skills while giving them a positive sense of purpose.
Love Notes
The Dibble Institute's Love Notes 3.0 Sexual Risk Avoidance Adaptation Evidenced-Based Program is designed to educate youth (10-19 years of age) on how to build healthy relationships, enable them to self-reflect and establish personal goals, and has been proven to prevent teen pregnancy. Through the program, teens learn the building blocks for healthy relationships of all kinds (romantic, friendship, familial, and professional) and build skills, including communication and conflict management skills, for choosing friends and partners, and for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. The curriculum is complemented by a Trusted Adult Activity which involves the teen engaging in conversation with a parent or trusted adult to reflect on the topics presented in each lesson.
Safer Sex Intervention
Referred to as Teen Talk by our program staff, the Safer Sex Intervention (SSI) curriculum, developed by Dr. Lydia A. Shrier, is an evidence-based program targeting young women 13-19 years of age. SSI is a multi-session intervention designed to capture the attention of young women, deliver safer sex information and promote positive behavioral changes. Young women who participate in SSI meet individually with a CACOST female facilitator. If you are interested in participating in SSI, you may schedule your session by clicking this link.
Youth Leadership Councils
The Youth Leadership Councils (YLC) provide current and former TOP® and Love Notes students the opportunity to step into a leadership role and use their voice to make changes in the program and their community through monthly meetings. There are YLCs at each of the schools where TOP® and Love Notes are implemented.
Collective Change Leadership Groups
Collective Change Leadership Groups (CCLG) are made up of community stakeholders who meet monthly with the purpose of creating sustainable change in the community and helping to shape the program. Community stakeholders include but are not limited to teens, parents, school personnel, county/city officials, and social service representatives. Currently, four CCLGs exist: Brooks County, Duval County, Jim Hogg County, and Jim Wells County. During meetings, members receive feedback from the YLC and discuss pertinent topics including teen pregnancy prevention awareness, program development, community engagement, and resource development. CCLGs are continually seeking new members.
For more information about the CCLGs, contact Lisa Cantu, the Community Mobilization Coordinator, at lisa.cantu@cacost.org.
In 2021
0
Teens Served Through TOP®
0
Teens Served Through Love Notes
0
Teens Served Through Safer Sex Intervention (SSI)
0
Community Service Learning (CSL) Hours