Page 28

Delaware’s TANF State Plan 10-1-2017 to 9-30-2020

28

federal funding which is intended to promote the postponement of sexual involvement by teens by changing norms and teaching teens needed skills. The goals of abstinence education funding are to: • Increase the number of adolescents who are making choices to remain sexually abstinent. • Increase the number of adolescents who are informed of the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from premarital sexual activity. • Increase the number of adolescents who are making healthy lifestyle choices to postpone sexual activity by avoiding situations and risky behaviors that would make them more vulnerable to sexual advances and urges.

Delaware has undertaken, through the Alliance on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (AAPP), a grassroots community and media outreach campaign to convince teenagers to postpone sexual activity and to avoid becoming or making someone else pregnant. AAPP works directly with parents in this initiative to improve communication between parents and children around sexuality and pregnancy prevention. In addition, AAPP provides preventive education and distributes information on preventing teen pregnancy, utilizing a number of kinds of interventions. For example, two full-time community educators visit schools, community centers, churches, and camps to provide workshops and training to parents and children around sexuality and teen pregnancy prevention. AAPP also maintains a resource center for the community and lends or gives away brochures, videos, curriculum, posters, books, and other communications about teen pregnancy prevention and sexuality.

The Wise Guys initiative is an adolescent male responsibility program that uses an established Wise Guys curriculum over a ten- week period. The program, operating in some high school based health centers, promotes character development and prevention of adolescent pregnancy by teaching young males self-responsibility in several areas.

Delaware's teen pregnancy prevention campaign also uses billboards to convey the message and statewide conferences to provide assistance implementing prevention activities.

Delaware's TANF program provides a positive incentive to teenagers to graduate high school by age 19 by awarding a one-time $50 bonus. Additionally, TANF requires teenage mothers currently on welfare to live with their parent(s) or a responsible adult, stay in school, immunize their child(ren), and participate in parenting education.