News Release - City to Receive $3 Million for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

City of Rochester

News Release


(Friday, Oct. 14, 2016)—Mayor Lovely A. Warren announced today that the City has been selected to receive a grant of $3,084,080 over 5 years beginning Jan. 1, 2017 from the New York State Department of Health, Center for Community Health for the Comprehensive Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (CAPP) Program.

“This funding will enable us to grow the services we provide and reach even more city youth,” said Mayor Warren. “Thanks to New York State, we can work with our community partners to help reduce our teenage pregnancy rates and move us closer to our goal of creating more jobs, safer more vibrant neighborhoods and better educational opportunities for all our residents.”

The grant will allow the Department of Recreation and Youth Services (DRYS), Bureau of Employment Skills Training and Youth Services, along with four community partners: Highland Family Planning; Baden Street/Metro Council for Teen Potential; Society for the Protection and Care of Children and the YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County to provide more than 1,000 youth ages 11 through 18 with appropriate, evidence-based pregnancy prevention programming. DRYS will also implement best-practice parent and caregiver education strategies for 200 parents to help improve parent-child communications on topics such as healthy relationships, substance use and sexual health, including family planning education.

Although teenage pregnancy rates in Rochester have declined recently, the latest available data show teen birth rates for females ages 15 through 19 in Rochester are nearly twice the national average. The program will replicate the evidence-based Making Proud Choices and Be Proud, Be Responsible curricula during in-school and after-school hours in the city’s highest poverty neighborhoods.

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News Media: For more information, contact Deputy Director of Communications, Donald Starver at 428-7135.