MOAPPP May 2011 E-Monthly

MOAPPP Will Announce New Organizational Name

On Thursday, May 5th, MOAPPP will announce its NEW organizational name! This date marks our 20th Anniversary as a statewide organization, and the start of our 20th Annual Conference—remarkable milestones in the life of any nonprofit. Moving to a shorter, “smarter” name will allow us to more quickly communicate our purpose while also sharing a positive message about Minnesota teens.

Look for a special email this Thursday, and join us in celebrating the start of our third decade!

There Is Still Time to Register for MOAPPP’s 20th Annual Conference!

The MOAPPP Annual Conference is Minnesota’s most comprehensive training event covering current research, educational resources, policy initiatives and emerging issues related to adolescent sexual health, pregnancy prevention and support for adolescent parents. It promises to be two days filled with renowned speakers, challenging, informative, skill-building workshops and many opportunities for networking and conversation. MOAPPP is also excited to tell you that we will announce our smarter, SHORTER, teen-friendly identity at the start of the conference!

For more information and to register, visit the MOAPPP conference page.

Join us next week on Thursday, May 12 at Solera for “Wise-Up”—a celebration of MOAPPP’s Twenty Years of Guiding Adults to Empower Teens. This special evening will include great food, sensational music, and fabulous live and silent auction opportunities. Be there to celebrate the retiring of MOAPPP’s name and to initiate our smarter, shorter, teen-friendly identity!

Registration for this event is still open! Tickets are $125 per person and sponsorship packages are available. To purchase a ticket or sponsorship package, click here. If you are not able to attend but would like to make a fully tax-deductible donation to MOAPPP, click here.

For additional information, contact Erin at [email protected] or 651-644-1447 x12.

MOAPPP Welcomes New Staff Member

We are pleased to share that Katie Welch recently joined the MOAPPP staff as Development Director. Katie brings a decade of experience to her role, having served in development positions at Way to Grow in Minneapolis, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the University of Wisconsin and the American Red Cross. We already appreciate her energy and enthusiasm, and look forward to introducing her to you.

Update on Minnesota Minors’ Consent Statute

Minnesota House File 1553 was introduced on April 26, and would repeal the state minors’ consent statute. While the House bill differs from Senate File 1017, introduced in March, there is now a vehicle in each legislative body that could pass on its own, or get bundled into a policy omnibus bill. The bills will have strong support in both the House and Senate. Please check to see if your Senator is on the Health and Human Services Committee, or if your Representative is on the Health and Human Services Reform Committee and share your concerns about this bill and the implications for Minnesota youth. In addition, the Governor’s Office needs to hear from you about how important this statue is to all our work. There’s no doubt we would not have achieved the success we have in lowering the teen pregnancy rate without it.

Other Announcements

The National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Hundreds of thousands of teens nationwide are expected to participate in the tenth annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy has resources in both English and Spanish to use throughout the month. Visit their website for links.

Minnesota Chlamydia Partnership Releases Plan

In April, members of the Minnesota Chlamydia Partnership presented the first-ever strategy for reducing and preventing chlamydia in Minnesota. The plan is available for downloading, and the webinar can be accessed on the Department of Health’s website. A more user-friendly version will be available later this year, as well as a dedicated website.

Minnesota HIV and STD Data Released

The Minnesota Department of Health released annual reports regarding HIV and STDs in the state. Data, slides and other information are available online. The number of new HIV cases dropped last year after a dramatic one-year jump in 2009. However, the number of new syphilis infections almost doubled and chlamydia cases hit an all-time high.

For Youth

Youth Leadership Team Seeks Latino Teens

The National Campaign is looking for a few bright, committed, and enthusiastic Latino teens from across the nation to join our Youth Leadership Team (YLT). Do you know anyone who fits the bill? From now through June 1st, 2011, they are accepting applications for the 2011-2012 YLT. Get more information and download an application form here. If you are curious about what being a YLT member is like, please read some firsthand accounts from several YLT alums here.

Join the Youth Activist Network

Join Advocates for Youth’s Youth Activist Network to help shape the world into one that recognizes adolescent sexual development as normal and healthy and empowers young people as leaders in the fight for social and reproductive justice.

In the News

HIV and STD Cases in Minnesota

Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Minors’ Consent Statute

Minneapolis Star Tribune

New Resources

New Resource from the National Campaign

StudentSexLife.org is a brand new online educational resource for college students about healthy relationships, sex, contraception and STIs. Community colleges and others are encouraged to link to this new resource in their online orientations or courses, or to request a custom banner for their websites.

New Research

Emotion Dysregulation and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Child Abuse Victims

This study from Child Abuse & Neglect examined emotion dysregulation (poor capacity to regulate emotion) as a factor underlying risky sexual behavior and sexual revictimization among adults who were victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) and child physical abuse (CPA). Emotion dysregulation mediated revictimization for both CSA and CPA. Emotion dysregulation also predicted lifetime number of sexual partners and frequency of risky sex with a stranger, but not frequency of risky sex with a regular dating partner. These findings confirm that emotion dysregulation is a critical pathway to more proximal risk factors such as risky sexual behavior.

New Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

According to this report, teen birth rates in the United States have declined but remain high, especially among black and Hispanic teens and in southern states. Fewer high school students are having sexual intercourse, and more sexually active students are using some method of contraception. However, many teens who have had sexual intercourse have not spoken with their parents about sex, and use of long-lasting reversible contraceptives remains rare.

Decision-Making Style and Gender Moderation of the Self-Efficacy–Condom Use Link Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Informing Targeted STI/HIV Prevention Programs

Researchers tested the impact of decision-making style and gender on condom use behaviors and condom use self-efficacy among adolescents. Using data collected from sexually active teens, study authors found that 45 percent of the respondents used condoms during their last act of sexual intercourse. Researchers concluded that STI prevention programs should use targeted interventions that address decision making style and gender. Read the study from Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine here.

Is Parenting Associated with Teenagers’ Early Sexual Risk-Taking, Autonomy And Relationship with Sexual Partners?

This study from Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health explored the relationship between parenting and the sexual risk-taking of teens. Study authors examined a series of sexual outcomes (e.g. delayed first intercourse and condom use) with parenting processes. Researchers found that parental supportiveness was positively associated with all outcomes, whereas some parental processes, such as parenting monitoring, were only associated with certain changes in adolescent sexual risk-taking. The authors concluded that parents may help develop teens’ capacity for positive and safe early sex and that caregivers should avoid mixed messages regarding abstinence and contraception.

Countering Conventional Wisdom: Contraceptive Use is the Norm Among Religious Women

Contraceptive use by Catholics and evangelicals—including those who attend religious services most frequently—is the norm, according to a new Guttmacher report (PDF). This finding confirms that policies making contraceptives more affordable and easier to use reflect the needs and desires of the vast majority of U.S. women and their partners, regardless of their religious beliefs.

Self-Harm and Its Link to Peer and Dating Violence Among Adolescents in a High-Risk Urban Community

This study (PDF) from Suicidology Online examined associations between self-harm and peer and dating violence perpetration and victimization among youth in a high-risk community. Findings show that 20.3 percent of students reported engaging in self-harm during the previous 12 months. Moreover, self-harm was associated with peer violence perpetration and victimization for both boys and girls, and also with dating violence perpetration among boys and girls.

Alternatives to Juvenile Justice for Youth Involved in Prostitution

This report (PDF) from Texas Juvenile Probation Commission concludes that many of juveniles in Texas engaged in prostitution are victims of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). Four recommendations are presented for improved expanded services for minors who become victims of recruitment into prostitution.

Heavy Alcohol Use and Dating Violence Perpetration During Adolescence: Family, Peer and Neighborhood Violence as Moderators

Findings from this study in Prevention Science suggest that as adolescents grow older, individual and contextual moderators may play an increasingly important role in explaining individual differences in relations between alcohol use and dating violence. Implications for the design and evaluation of dating abuse prevention programs are discussed.

Middle School Aggression and Subsequent Intimate Partner Physical Violence

This study from Journal of Youth and Adolescence found that when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, middle-school aggression is a significant risk factor for partner victimization and perpetration. Early aggression remains an independent predictor of partner violence perpetration and victimization for males and perpetration for females when other middle-school risk behaviors and exposures to physical aggression in the childhood home are taken into account. To reduce partner violence through young adulthood, findings suggest the importance of early interventions that help adolescents learn non-violent strategies for resolving conflicts in cross-gender relationships.

MOAPPP Events

MOAPPP May 2011 E-Monthly

For more information and to register, visit the MOAPPP conference page.

MOAPPP’s 20th Anniversary Event

Join us next week on Thursday, May 12th at Solera for “Wise-Up”—a celebration of MOAPPP’s Twenty Years of Guiding Adults to Empower Teens. This special evening will include great food, sensational music, and fabulous live and silent auction opportunities. Be there to celebrate the retiring of MOAPPP’s name and to initiate our smarter, shorter, teen-friendly identity!

Tickets are $125 per person and sponsorship packages are available. To purchase a ticket or sponsorship package, click here. If you are not able to attend but would like to make a fully tax-deductible donation to MOAPPP, click here.

For additional information, contact Erin at [email protected] or 651-644-1447 x12.

June 21, 2011
Teen Pregnancy Prevention 101

9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Center for Performing Arts
3754 Pleasant Avenue, Minneapolis

This training is offered twice a year at various locations across Minnesota.

This training is intended for professionals new to the field of adolescent pregnancy prevention. Participants review the basics of adolescent pregnancy prevention including pregnancy, birth and STI statistics; trends in adolescent pregnancy and sexual behaviors; basics of adolescent growth and development; risk and protective factors associated with adolescent pregnancy; and prevention strategies that work. Each participant will leave with a basic understanding of current research and resources, what to do to promote adolescent sexual health and where to go for more information and support.

For more information and to register, see the flyer and registration form (PDF). Click here to register online. Questions? Contact Jocelyn at 651-644-1447 x19, [email protected].

Other Events

May 11, 2011
Youth Development Brown Bag Webinar Series

“Communicating with the Net Generation,” Kari Robideau, M.S. & Karyn Santi, M.Ed.

Extension Services of North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota are partnering to offer a series of six webinars on youth development topics. Each webinar will provide live, interactive learning experiences that you can participate in at your own computer over the lunch hour. Participants are able to ask the instructor questions and get answers in real time while the presenter conducts discussions, questions and polls. For more information and to register, visit www.ndsu.edu.

May 18, 2011
Promoting What Works: A Symposium of Approaches for Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents

8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (ET)
In-person or Webcast
Top of the Hill Banquet and Conference Center
One Constitution Avenue NE, Washington, DC

The purpose of the day-long symposium is to lead a dialogue with experts on what works in caring for pregnant adolescents and helping them build strong young families. The goal of the symposium is to increase awareness of effective and promising or emerging interventions that support young families in healthy decision making. As a result, these interventions will be utilized in an effort to improve outcomes for pregnant and parenting adolescents and their families. The symposium is intended for adolescent pregnancy program planners, researchers, health professionals, and policy makers. To register, click here.

May 18, 25 and 26, 2011
Webinars from WellShare International

WellShare International’s Somali Child Spacing Program presents free 90-minute webinars:

- Somali Perspectives on Child Spacing
- Caring for Circumcised Women (Reproductive health and child spacing focused)

Visit WellShare’s website for more information and to register.

May 19, 2011
Webcast – Fertility, Cycles and Signals: A 101 for Health Educators

Sponsored by the California Family Health Council, this workshop is described as: “Understanding fertility can transform the way an educator discusses pregnancy prevention and planning. This workshop will provide participants with an easy-to-understand framework for discussing when a woman can and cannot get pregnant and why, and help them to answer common questions.” More information can be found at healthed.org.