The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), a key program of the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, was created to address teen pregnancy. PREP grantees are required to include the Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach in their program design. PYD provides a framework to create and implement effective programs to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among youth using six adulthood preparation subjects (APSs) that support youth in the transition to adulthood. These APSs include healthy relationships, adolescent development, financial literacy, parent-child communication, education and career success, and healthy life skills. This brief offers PREP grantees an overview of the PYD key concepts and evidence base. The brief also includes a set of PYD practices and a table of examples where PYD can support APS programming, drawn from PREP grantees.

Co-regulation is a process where practitioners create safe spaces and nurturing relationships and coach youth in the use of self-regulation. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation has developed this guide to show how integrating co-regulation may improve program implementation and outcomes. The guide highlights the ACF-sponsored Self-Regulation Training Approaches and Resources to Improve Staff Capacity for Implementing Healthy Marriage Programs for Youth (SARHM) project, which builds on a set of resources for educators in the Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs for youth ages 14 to 24. Research questions raised in the guide include what key elements of co-regulation strategies can program facilitators use to support youth self-regulation, what capacity building supports are needed by program facilitators, and how feasible are co-regulation strategies in the implementation of youth HMRE programs.

This November 2018 webinar by California Partnership to End Domestic Violence provided information on its Youth in the Lead 2019 campaign that addressed teen dating violence. It provided insights on how the Partnership focuses on youth expertise by collecting actual peer organizing strategies youth have used to address teen dating violence and promote healthy relationships. The speakers also provided best practices that organizations have used to develop connections with the broader community.

(See also Resources on "intimate partner violence" in the Resource Library)

This web conference was hosted on November 6, 2019 by Prevent Connect, a national project of California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The web conference introduced participants to CDC’s comprehensive teen dating violence prevention model, Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships, and highlighted the latest research evidence displaying the model’s effectiveness in preventing teen dating violence. The web conference also showcased the Dating Matters Toolkit, which provides communities with the materials, tools, and guidance needed to implement all seven components of the Dating Matters model. Links to the web conference PowerPoint slides and the text chat transcript are provided.

(See also Resources on "intimate partner violence" in the Resource Library)

Take A Stand for Healthy Relationships, a National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Discovery Education program, teaches high school students in grades 6-12 how to understand and build healthy relationships. The curriculum contains self-paced modules and lesson plans to help students gain crucial skills in communication, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence, and help them recognize healthy and safe qualities and behaviors in relationships. Accompanying educator guides offer school staff ways to support students through the essential content.

(See also Resources on "intimate partner violence" in the Resource Library)

The Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood initiative provides funding for the Fathers Advancing Community Together (FACT) program in Contra Costa County, California. FACT offers responsible parenting, healthy relationships, and economic stability services, including workshops for low-income parents. This Urban Institute brief covers a survey of FACT participants that examined whether they believed they were equipped with the skills to be good parents and how participating in the workshops affected their capacity to save money and develop budgets or obtain employment.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief presents four models to illustrate how program activities of Responsible Fatherhood (RF) programs may contribute to intended outcomes. The four models in the brief depict linkages between RF activities and, as measured in the Parents and Children Together (PACT) Evaluation, four intended outcomes of RF programs to include healthy relationships between co-parents, father development and well-being, consistent employment, and parenting skills and father involvement. The models also include research question recommendations for future evaluations to build the evidence base.

This July 2020 webinar from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation presented three Pathways-to-Outcomes models of Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs. The models are based on research evidence to find the association between specific program activities and the impact on HMRE participants for observed outcomes. The models might have applicability for program design and implementation for other HMRE programming for observable outcomes.

The effects of trauma on teens and young adults can be far reaching. The Dibble Institute will host a webinar on November 11, 2020 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET to present findings and lessons learned from a study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In the study, a trauma-informed approach utilizing relationship education was implemented with over 100,000 young people over four years in San Antonio. The speakers will define trauma, its effects on young people, and their reactions to trauma, and will discuss adverse childhood experiences. The webinar is intended for Federal- and state-funded grant managers, program supervisors, teachers, health care staff, and others who work with high-need youth.

This webpage from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is comprised of fast facts, risk and protective factors, prevention strategies, and resources related to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Teen Dating Violence. There is also a technical package that contains evidence-based programs, policies, practices, and strategies focused on preventing IPV and its consequences on individuals across the lifespan. The strategies include teaching healthy relationship skills, engaging influential adults and peers, disrupting the pathway for IPV, creating protective environments, strengthening families’ economic support, and supporting survivors to lessen harm and increase safety.

(See also Resources on "domestic violence" in the Resource Library)