What is PREP?

The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) aims to reduce teen pregnancies and their negative consequences, as well as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and associated risk behaviors. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (C-UPHD) receives grant funding for the PREP program.

PREP programs are expected to (1) be evidence-based, (2) provide education on both abstinence and contraceptive use, and (3) educate youth on at least three of six adulthood preparation topics. States are also encouraged to target their programming to high-risk populations, such as youth residing in geographic areas with high teen birth rates, adjudicated youth, youth in foster care, minority youth, and pregnant or parenting teens.

Congress authorized PREP as part of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). PREP is administered by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The PREP/TPP programs encourage communities to support young people through Positive Youth Development (PYD). PYD helps young people transition through difficult times and prepares them for college, work, and life.

Positive Youth Development, or PYD, is based on a body of research suggesting that certain “protective factors,” or positive influences, can help young people succeed and keep them from having problems. According to this research:

• Young people may have fewer behavioral problems and may be better prepared for a successful transition to adulthood if they have a variety of opportunities to learn and participate at home, at school, in community-based programs, and in their neighborhoods.
• Some of the elements that can protect young people and put them on the path to success include family support, caring adults, positive peer groups, a strong sense of self and self-esteem, and involvement at school and in the community.

PYD favors leadership and skill-building opportunities under the guidance of caring adults. It looks at youth as assets to be developed and gives them the means to build successful futures.

As part of Positive Youth Development, CCSE participated in Advocacy Days on April 11th, 2013 and April 1st, 2014. CCSE also collaborates with the University of Illinois Extension Office to implement the 4-H Food Challenge at participating schools.