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Background
 In the United States, 35% of all new HIV infections are among young people age 13-29. Surveys continue to show approximately half of American high school students report having had sexual intercourse, and a third of high school students report being currently sexually active (having had sex during the preceding three months). More than a third of these sexually active high school students report not using condoms at last sexual intercourse. These rates are documented to be higher among high school students who are poorer and who are African American. Where homophobia presents a barrier to HIV prevention and care, gay youth are also at particular risk for having unprotected sex and being exposed to HIV.
Nationwide in the U.S., 87% of students have been taught in school about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or HIV infection. However, few have access to comprehensive sex education programs, despite an array of individual studies and meta-analyses showing that comprehensive sex education programs that include information about both abstinence and contraception can be effective in helping young people reduce their number of sexual partners, increase condom use when they do have sex, and delay the onset of sexual intercourse. Many high schools do not even make condoms readily available to teenagers, even though research has found that in schools where condoms are available, students are less likely to be sexually active and more likely to use condoms if they are having sex.
EJAF’s Youth and Sexual Health Initiative
Beginning in August of 2007, the Foundation inaugurated a specific initiative to support HIV prevention education and sexual health programs targeted to youth and concerted advocacy efforts promoting the development and funding of comprehensive sex education programs for young people. Since 2007, EJAF has invested $1.125 million in funding for this targeted initiative, regarding sexual health programming for youth as a cornerstone investment in the long-term control of the HIV epidemic. Through its Youth and Sexual Health Initiative, EJAF has awarded grants to several key partners (listed below) and, in addition, has continued to award a variety of small community grants to organizations such as Camp Heartland, talksafe/PLUSES, Brotherhood Sister Sol, YouthPride Atlanta, Community AIDS Resource Miami, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and others that have implemented innovative HIV prevention education programs for young people.
Advocates for Youth, Washington, DC, $475,000 since August 2007 – Youth Activist Network and Anti-Homophobia/Transphobia Initiative – Activities supported include: (1) Broad outreach through Amplify, the online home of the Youth Activist Network (YAN). Advocates for Youth expects that the site’s high level of traffic (500,000 visitors this year) will recruit another 10,000 YAN members. Staff assist the youth to write over 30,000 letters to policy makers and launch issue-specific campaigns, among other activities; (2) Working with a core group of 17 YAN members who serve as college organizers to conduct on-the-ground advocacy (e.g., organizing a “week of action” around a specific issue and participating in local policy maker education days); (3) Assisting 1,500 college-age YAN members to distribute 750,000 condoms and conduct advocacy and education around HIV prevention and youth-friendly condom availability; and (4) Disseminating materials on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered (GLBT) youth to 10,000 organizations serving youth of color; training 10 of them on GLBT youth; and providing in-depth assistance to 4 organizations to redress homophobia and transphobia.
National Urban Technology Center, New York, NY, $600,000 since August 2007 – Get Healthy, Get Smart! (GHGS) – Urban Tech’s aim is to promote positive school-wide instructional models that include student and parent input and increase HIV/AIDS awareness (and prevention), while promoting healthier habits overall through the organization’s the Get Healthy, Get Smart! (GHGS) pilot program within NYC under-served public middle and high schools. The foundation of GHGS is rooted in the organization’s Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) curriculum series. Tier 1: Continue to support and sustain the accomplishments of the initial 30 schools; and Tier 2: Expand into 40 new schools in 5 districts located in northern Manhattan, east Brooklyn and south Bronx. Goals include: (1) Integration of YLA’s social and emotional skills for leadership training and healthy living into the New York City Dept. of Education core curriculum and arts enrichment specialty areas; (2) Professional Development workshops, co-teaching and mentoring of teachers over the 2-year time frame to support and enhance instruction in the classroom; (3) Parents as Partners Programming – provide GHGS learning opportunities and instruction to parents within the selected school communities; (4) Development of distance learning tools for professional development to provide 24/7 availability of Urban Tech’s innovative approach to teaching and learning, ongoing support of teachers in the program and sustainability after funding ends; and (5) Ongoing evaluation of Urban Tech’s activities.
American Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY, $50,000 since December 2009 – The Reproductive Freedom Project – The ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project’s “Advancing Healthy Sexuality Education” project aims to promote effective sex education and healthy sexuality through: 1) communications research in collaboration with cognitive linguists that will offer a new model and new messages for how we think and talk about sex (ultimately boosting political/policy changes that support comprehensive sex education); 2) work with educators to help develop a greater understanding of education policy and reform, and how to integrate sex education reform into these efforts; and 3) state-based advocacy and litigation aimed at rejecting abstinence-only programs and implementing effective sex ed policies in communities around the country. The Project is uniquely positioned to take on this work, given its longstanding history of pressing for effective sex education through litigation and advocacy; its network of ACLU affiliates prepared to fight sex education battles in towns, cities, and states around the country; and the ACLU’s communications expertise.
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