Relationship education (RE) has been effective for youth, especially in contexts of adversity (i.e., high rates of STDs, teen pregnancy). Resilience theory suggests that youth under more adversity benefit more from resource-based interventions. However, most evaluations of RE programs focus on majority youth or take a deficit approach. Our mixed method study evaluated the effectiveness of the Love Notes curriculum, comparing improvement in program outcomes for youth from various backgrounds of potential disadvantage (urban high schools, alternative education, and behavioral health contexts). We found that youth from behavioral health contexts had greater gains from participating in Love Notes than other groups on some outcomes, indicating resilience. Participants found relationship skills, recognizing risks, and sex education most useful. Our study emphasized the importance and effectiveness of youth relationship education, highlighting unique experiences based on context. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Learn about relationship education among youth and its main goals…
Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Building Trust Using Unique Strategies for Successful Recruitment and Retention Recruiting and retaining youth in youth development programs, specifically in teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs, is a multifaceted challenge. Systemic barriers, transportation difficulties, and competing priorities are just a few of the obstacle’s organizations face. At PRO Youth & Families (PRO), trust-building has proven to be a vital foundation for achieving success in both recruitment and retention. In this webinar, PRO will partner with Queens of Eve, a community-based organization, to share actionable strategies and insights from their collaborative work. Together, they will discuss key trust-building practices, such as fostering strong relationships, setting clear boundaries and expectations, actively listening, and adapting to meet the unique needs of youth and partners. Additionally, the session will highlight the role of meaningful youth incentives and partner compensation in promoting program success. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Identify three practical strategies to support…
Results From a Recent Investigation of Love Notes Join Dr. Scott Crapo from Utah State University as he delves into recent research on the multifaceted, positive impacts of Love Notes. Love Notes aims to achieve a wide array of outcomes beyond reducing sexual risk-taking, yet limited research has explored its effectiveness in reaching broader learning objectives. Given the significant association between healthy adolescent dating relationships and both current and future outcomes, it is crucial to understand how Love Notes influences youths’ general approach to relationships, particularly across diverse contexts. Additionally, since schools and organizations are often unable to commit extensive time to relationship education programs, Dr. Crapo also assessed whether Love Notes can be effectively taught in fewer lessons. Join us to discover how Love Notes impacts youth perceptions and attitudes about relationship behaviors and also one’s capacity to succeed in relationships. See how changes to the format of Love…
Solutions of Success: Using Mind Matters in Juvenile Justice Interested in working with youth and their families in the juvenile justice system? Join us as Arizona Youth Partnership (AZYP) shares their experience in collaborating with their Mohave County Juvenile Probation in rural Arizona where services and programming for youth are limited. Using OJJDP Title II funding, AZYP implements Mind Matters to prevent juvenile delinquency, to promote public safety, and to support positive outcomes for youth, families, and the community. AZYP focuses on youth both at-risk for delinquency and already in the correctional system. They implement Mind Matters in youth shelters, at tribal schools, in diversion classes, at a local PRIDE Center, and in weekly classes for youth on probation. They will share how they utilize Mind Matters in a variety settings. They will also cover how to effectively partner with local juvenile justice agencies on grant and community projects. Objectives:…
Centering Youth Voice Using Peer Facilitators in Relationship Education to Engage and Empower Youth Join Kelley Luckett and Daiya Thompson of the Louisville YMCA as they discuss lessons learned over the last two years of implementing Love Notes in Teen Vibe Camps using peer facilitators. Teen Vibe Camps, offer a transformative blend of summer camp nostalgia and comprehensive curriculum sessions. Through activities like podcasting, music, and social media graphics, these camps foster a sense of community and belonging. Statistical evidence showcases significant shifts in positive identity markers among attendees who form trusted adult connections and show higher program engagement. Complementing this approach is an innovative Peer Facilitator model, which introduces youth as Love Notes facilitators. Peer facilitators excel in building trust, fostering community, and encouraging participation outscoring adult facilitators in quality observation scores. Through a dual-track system involving collaboration with local high schools and self-selection from camp attendees, peer facilitators…
“But you know I’m just like you, right?” Exploring Adolescent Dating and Disability Join Dr. Heidi Rueda as she discusses her research on adolescent dating and disability. She will explore young people with disabilities’ romantic and sexual experiences highlighting the unique challenges and assets across the stages of relationships (initiation, sustainment, and termination). She will also cover dating and sexual violence prevention along with pregnancy and parenting considerations. She will highlight how, through advocacy, parents and educators can help young people with various types of disabilities obtain sexual citizenship via comprehensive sexual health education plus tailored dating and sexual health resources. The qualitative data for this webinar came from interviews with social workers who served children and adolescents with disabilities, as well as from interviews with young adults with disabilities and with parents of youth with disabilities. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Describe the intimacy desires of youth with…
The Power of Relationship Education from a Policy Perspective Policymakers and policy analysts are increasingly turning to micro-level interventions to address large and widespread social issues. There is a growing recognition that what happens inside a home and family has broader social ramifications, which is turning policy conversations toward approaches that can strengthen couples and families. Relationship Education has proven to be effective for improving outcomes in a variety of settings related to families. Because many of the issues that public policy seeks to address are affected by family instability and parental conflict, Relationship Education can act as a preventative measure that diminishes risk factors that originate in the home. Also, addressing a problem after it has taken hold is often more expensive than stopping it from happening in the present. Join Dr. Jocelyn Wikle to learn how Relationship Education can be beneficial in diminishing serious and costly issues of…
Young People’s Experiences and Thoughts on Relationships Today: A conversation with Marline Pearson Many of us wonder about young people’s current lived experience and aspirations regarding their relationships. For instance: Do adolescents still date? Do they still hope for a long-term committed partner or spouse? How are young people thinking about their intimate relationships? How are they visualizing their current or future families? Join Love Notes author and noted thought leader, Marline Pearson, as she shares her experiences and reflections that come from teaching thousands of young people at Madison College, a two-year technical and community college as well as younger teens through STEM and Gateway programs. She will also share the different messages she gives young people from teens to late twenties about how best to approach relationships during those years. Note: This is a conversational format. Please come prepared with questions to ask Marline. Objectives: Participants will be…
Beginning in the mid-2000s, the federal government authorized funding to support healthy relationship education (HRE) for youth. These programs aim to improve young people’s relationship skills, knowledge, and behaviors and prepare them to build healthy romantic relationships in adulthood. In 2020, the federal government awarded more than $24 million to 25 programs serving high-school-age youth and young adults. In a project supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mathematica has summarized the existing research on the effectiveness of HRE programs for youth. The research team identified and reviewed 15 impact studies of HRE programs for youth and summarized the findings using an evidence and gaps map. Join us as we discuss what we know and what we don’t know about the effectiveness of HRE programs for youth and promising future directions for continuing to build the evidence base for these programs. Objectives: Participants will learn: What an…
Have you ever wondered what difference having an all male or all female* or co-ed group makes for youth outcomes? Well, so did John Lewis of Urban Strategies. John leads the collaborative, FuturoNow, which is delivering Love Notes SRA to approximately 1,300 youth annually targeting nine, majority-Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles County that have teen birth rates far above state and national average. As part of their grant, FuturoNow is conducting a descriptive study to compare differences between implementing Love Notes with all male, all female, and co-ed groups. In this webinar you will learn what they learned about outcomes, outreach, and other key takeaways through surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. *Self-identified Objectives: Participants will learn: How male and female youth experienced Love Notes in gender-based cohorts including what they liked and disliked Two strategies to increase recruitment and retention of male and female youth in by hosting these…
From underperforming schools to unsafe neighborhoods, from institutional racism to other structural barriers, hindrances often stand in the way of financial success for young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds. Given these challenges, many young adults lose hope, thinking they have no way of changing their life trajectories. However, there is a path that frequently leads to the “American Dream” and away from poverty. This path is called the “Success Sequence.” The sequence entails three steps: (1) getting at least a high-school degree, (2) working full-time, and (3) marrying before having children. Young adults who manage to follow the sequence – even in the face of challenges – are much more likely to forge a path to a better economic life. Join Brad Wilcox and Wendy Wang as they discuss how poverty is basically nonexistent among young adults who followed all three steps according to their new analysis of data from the…
For the past 10 years, youth serving programs across the United States have been teaching healthy relationship skills to hundreds of thousands of young people using Relationship Smarts PLUS 4.0 and Love Notes 3.0. Now, The Dibble Institute is excited to announce that both of these evidence-based programs have been updated with brand new information crucial to supporting teens and young adults in today’s world! Both Relationship Smarts PLUS 5.0 and Love Notes 4.0 continue to use a strengths-based, asset building approach to help young people make wise choices about relationships, sex, and the timing of family formation plus setting a path towards achieving their goals. New and updated contents include: Navigating relationships in the digital age Sex trafficking prevention Consent and sexual assault prevention Unique approach to addressing internet porn Current research, music, videos, images Improved activities for greater engagement and easier facilitation Medical accuracy updates on contraceptive and STI information Objectives:…
Youth Voice and Youth Engagement are pillars in youth development and program implementation. As part of the implementation plan for their Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) grant, The YMCA of Greater Louisville partnered with the Teaching and Learning Magnet of Central High School to train seniors as peer facilitators in Love Notes. The peer facilitators then led sessions of Love Notes with adult support, both within their schools and at other community programs. Join YMCA of Louisville’s TPP grant manager, Kelley Luckett, as she describes their model of program implementation that uses peer facilitators to increase both youth voice and engagement. This presentation will demonstrate how this model benefits not only the youth participants but also the peer facilitators. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Describe how the YMCA of Louisville used peer facilitators in the implementation of Love Notes. Explain how the use of peer facilitators increases youth voice. Explain…
Youth Voice and Youth Engagement are pillars in youth development and program implementation. As part of the implementation plan for their Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) grant, The YMCA of Greater Louisville partnered with the Teaching and Learning Magnet of Central High School to train seniors as peer facilitators in Love Notes. The peer facilitators then led sessions of Love Notes with adult support, both within their schools and at other community programs. Join YMCA of Louisville’s TPP grant manager, Kelley Luckett, as she describes their model of program implementation that uses peer facilitators to increase both youth voice and engagement. This presentation will demonstrate how this model benefits not only the youth participants but also the peer facilitators. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Describe how the YMCA of Louisville used peer facilitators in the implementation of Love Notes. Explain how the use of peer facilitators increases youth voice. Explain…
In this webinar, Dr. Anita Barbee, will discuss the results from the original random control trial in Louisville testing the efficacy of Love Notes. She will focus on how Love Notes actually reduces the chance of pregnancy for youth by 46% over those in the control group 12 months after instruction. (These results were recently published in the peer reviewed journal, Family Relations.) You will learn about some of the mediators that led to that outcome, which were emphasized more in Love Notes than another comprehensive sex education program. She will cover how negative attitudes about teen pregnancy and endorsement of the success sequence may be key in preventing teen pregnancies. Dr. Barbee will also dive into why Love Notes worked so well with a Black youth population given the ecology in which those participants live. Implications for practice will be discussed. Objectives: Participants will learn: About contents of Love Notes that likely impacted results….
Researchers from Child Trends using the Social Genome Model (SGM) explored how preventing births to teenagers would alter the lives of youth over time. The results show education, economic, and health benefits associated with preventing births to teens – findings that lead to an important question. How is childbearing among teenagers best prevented? Join Dr. Kristin Moore and Alison McClay as they share decades of experience with varied approaches and highlight how wisdom about preventing teen births has accumulated over time. Information is important, services are important, but motivation is important as well. The presentation will also describe how intervention approaches have evolved over time and outline considerations for future research and programs, including an overview of El Camino, a research-based sexual health promotion program developed by Child Trends. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Discuss the implications of teenage childbearing; Describe varied approaches used to discourage sexual activity and…
Young mothers in Delaware have the option of attending school with other expecting and parenting young ladies in one of three locations throughout the state. This alternative educational option is the 54-year-old organization called the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc. (DAPI). DAPI combines programming for pregnant and parenting teens through academics, health, and outreach. DAPI’s model helps its “DAPI Daughters” soar to new heights both academically and personally. Join DAPI’s executive Director, Doris Griffin, as she discusses the DAPI model and how relationship education is an integral part of that work. Objectives: Participants will learn: Information about the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc. (DAPI) What makes the DAPI model different from other alternative education How DAPI integrates relationship education in their work About DAPI’s goals for future programming Presenter: Doris L. P. Griffin, Ed.D., Executive Director of the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc. Who should attend: Program managers working with expecting and parenting youth,…
With the highest teen pregnancy rates in the United States, Arkansas has a great need for health education centering around pregnancy prevention and healthy relationships. After utilizing Love Notes 3.0 and Love Notes SRA for the last three years, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Outreach Specialists, Sarah Harlan and Charles Maxwell, have encountered barriers common to a rural, conservative environment. But despite those barriers, they have seen growth. Join them during this webinar to hear their experiences and lessons learned in bringing relationship education to teens across their state. Objectives: Webinar participants will be able to: Understand how Love Notes aligns with the mission of Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Understand Arkansas Children’s Love Notes implementation strategies. Gain insights into increasing community partnerships and reaching rural areas with health education. Presenters: Sarah Harlan and Charles Maxwell, Outreach Specialists, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Who should attend: Program managers, educators, practitioners, community workers, and anyone interested in working with youth. When: Wednesday,…
September 9, 2020 @ 1:00 pm Pacific Developmentally, one of the ways adolescents explore who they are is through romantic relationships. How adolescents approach these relationships is influenced by the relationships modeled around them. While some youth may have witnessed and learned about positive couple interactions from good models, many may have witnessed only poor models of couple relationships. Educational programs on healthy relationships can help youth develop skills to make smart relationship choices and avoid risky behaviors. Since 2008, the University of Georgia along with Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Extension agents, in partnership with schools and community agencies across 76 counties, have delivered Relationship Smarts PLUS to nearly 15,000 youth. Overall, participating youth have reported increases in knowledge, confidence that they can use the skills learned, likeliness to use these skills, and positive feelings about themselves. Join Dr. Ted Futris and Cindy Sheram as they share their…
Mission West Virginia, Inc., a non-profit, has been providing services to youth and families across West Virginia for over 22 years. The THINK Program (Teaching Health Instead of Nagging Kids) has been providing teen pregnancy prevention, healthy relationship education, and positive youth development for over 12 years, reaching over 100,000 middle- and high-school-aged youth. The THINK Program currently utilizes several Dibble programs to impact teen pregnancy. During this webinar, Jill Gwilt will discuss the THINK Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, which utilizes Love Notes EBP 2.1. Specifically, she will cover how they were able to scale up their large program in a rural area. Additionally, she will discuss how the curricula were chosen, how they developed long-standing partnerships, the importance of youth voices, creation of community groups, and more. Objectives: What “scale up” actually means out in the field. How to build and maintain long-lasting grant programs in rural areas. How…