Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs

From 2010 to 2015, CDC, the federal Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), and the Office of Population Affairs collaborated to demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative, multicomponent, communitywide initiatives in reducing rates of teen pregnancy and births in communities with the highest rates, with a focus on reaching African American and Latino or Hispanic young people aged 15 to 19 years. Providing teens with evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, including youth development and curriculum-based programs, was a key component of the communitywide initiatives.  Evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs are programs that have been shown, in at least one program evaluation, to have a positive effect on preventing teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, or sexual risk behaviors. Each evidence-based program was identified by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) TPP Evidence Review, which used a systematic process for reviewing evaluation studies against a rigorous standard.  Click here for a full list of these programs.

The awardees, nine state-and community-based organizations and five national organizations, along with CDC and OAH, collaboratively developed valuable program tools and resources which may be useful for other teen pregnancy prevention initiatives:

Evidence-based program planning, implementation, and evaluation tools

• Promoting Science-Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Using Getting to Outcomes [PDF - 312KB]-- a clear process for building the capacity of our national, regional, and state-level grantees. Grantees give tailored training and technical assistance to their local partners who deliver science-based teen pregnancy prevention programs at the community level. The process is called Promoting Science-Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Using Getting to Outcomes (PSBA-GTO) and is described in this document. It integrates the guidance and tools for program planning, implementation, and evaluation and is designed for the teen pregnancy prevention field.

Assessment Tools

• Program Implementation Partner Needs Assessment Tool [PDF - 707KB]—This tool helps organizations identify current strengths, as well as areas of potential growth, related to the implementation of evidence-based programs to prevent teen pregnancy.  This information can be used to assist organizations to adopt or strengthen evidence-based programs. 

Reporting Tools

• Performance Measure Reporting Tool [PDF - 616KB] —This tool can help organizations involved in community-wide teen pregnancy prevention initiatives to evaluate their progress in the areas of evidence-based programs, contraceptive and reproductive health services, community mobilization, stakeholder education, and working with diverse communities.