EMPOWERING STUDENTS
We deliver prevention education to thousands of middle and high school students in the DuPage County area throughout the school year. Health Educators partner with Peer Educators, who share their personal experiences of being a young parent.
Teen Parent Connection’s Prevention Programs promote optimal reproductive health for adolescents in DuPage County by fostering responsible decision-making skills, encouraging healthy sexual attitudes and behaviors, and providing reproductive health education that is comprehensive, medically accurate, and evidence-based.
PEER PREVENTION EDUCATION
Peer prevention education is delivered to thousands of middle and high school students throughout the DuPage County area as a component of their Health Education classes. Our Peer Prevention program curriculum complies with the State of Illinois Reproductive Health Education Standards, which requires schools that teach sex education in grades 6 through 12 to include instruction in both abstinence and contraception using materials that are evidence-based and medically accurate. Health Educators engage students in activities that educate in a nonjudgmental manner while focusing on prevention of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV/AIDS. Health Educators partner with Peer Educators, who share their personal experiences of being a young parent.
AWARE
AWARE (Adolescents with Awareness, Resources, and Education) is a collaborative partnership between the YWCA West Suburban Center and Teen Parent Connection and is presented as a week-long sexuality health education program for eighth grade students. AWARE begins with a Parent Night Workshop, followed by four days of classroom-based student workshops. Student workshop topics include teen pregnancy prevention and healthy decision-making, sexually transmitted infection prevention, and dating violence/sexual assault prevention. Parent Workshops are designed to increase awareness of STIs, teen pregnancy, and sexual violence and help parents learn how to open a dialogue with their children so they can serve as an ongoing resource of information and support.
HIP
HIP (Health Impact Project) is a program designed to meet the needs of adolescents considered to be at particularly high risk for STIs/teen pregnancy. The program is offered at a higher level of intensity through multiple sessions using research-based curricula proven to delay initiation of sexual intercourse and increase contraceptive use among program participants.
FAMILY PLANNING EDUCATION
A comprehensive program for young parents enrolled in Teen Parent Connection’s direct service programs with the goal of delaying subsequent pregnancies. Family Planning Education is delivered by Health Educators and consists of two prevention units targeting issues surrounding reproductive health promotion. Topics include STI/HIV Prevention, Subsequent Pregnancy Prevention/Contraceptive Education, and Risk Reduction/STI testing.
*PLEASE NOTE* Teen Parent Connection only provides services in DuPage County, Illinois and surrounding areas; at this time we cannot provide resources out of state or service area.
For information or to schedule our Prevention Program, email Elizabeth Witman at elizabethw@teenparentconnection.org or call (630) 812-0781.