NCSD is pleased to announce that we’ve been selected for funding under the CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) PS18-1807: Promoting Adolescent Health through School-Based HIV Prevention. The purpose of this funding is to improve the health and well-being of this nation’s youth by working with education and health agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reduce HIV, STD, teen pregnancy, and related risks among middle and high school students.  As a field, we recognize how important this population is to our work. Young people ages 15-24 represent just over 25 percent of the sexually active population, but account for more than half of the 20 million new STDs that occur each year. Under this five year cooperative agreement, NCSD will work to increase the capacity of multi-sector, state-level leadership teams to assess and coordinate model policy development and implementation at state and local levels. This initiative will center on three core areas of work: sexual health education, access to sexual health services, and facilitating safe and supportive environments.

NCSD has been funded by DASH for more than ten years, and have prided ourselves on our ability to build and strengthen partnerships and provide responsive, high-quality expertise and adolescent-centered resources to the field. Most recently, NCSD completed a five-year project (PS13-1308) dedicated to building the capacity of state health and education agencies to facilitate access to sexual health services for adolescents. We are also currently funded under PS16-1603 to expand national-level partnerships and support local action planning. This project has enabled us to meaningfully partner with Advocates for Youth, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), and the School-Based Health Alliance, as well as provide mini-grants to a number of NCSD member health departments. The new funding represents an opportunity to expand our scope further by supporting NCSD members in navigating policy and practice within their jurisdictions and convening key stakeholders to identify best practices, develop and/or implement sound policy, and share resources.

NCSD is honored to join other NGO partners and education agencies on this new cooperative agreement. For more information about the project, and to view a full list of funded agencies and organizations, please visit the DASH website.