Sex Ed in Garfield County

Educating Youth, Empowering Parents & Supporting Schools

The Garfield County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition pursued the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant funds due to the high number of teen pregnancies in the county and the belief that education for all students could decrease these numbers. Garfield County PREP is a collaboration of schools, community based organizations and agencies, government departments, concerned citizens and teens working to provide prevention education and resources to parents and teens on healthy sexual development, healthy relationships, and sexual health issues.

Youth ages 10 – 19 receive age-appropriate, evidence based, abstinence-focused, comprehensive sex ed information that meets the requirements of the Colorado’s Healthy Youth Act and Colorado Department of Education comprehensive health standards.

Teen Birth Rates by Zip Code

Our Programs

Draw The Line, Respect The Line is a progression of lessons delivered by classroom teachers in grades 6-8. Be Proud! Be Responsible! is delivered once in high school during a student’s freshman or sophomore health or science class. Both curricula include role plays, activities, and discussions that stress skill building aimed at risk avoidance. Street Smart is the newest curriculum to Garfield County and will be taught at Bridges and Yampah Mountain High Schools. Copies of Draw The Line, Respect The Line and Be Proud! Be Responsible! facilitator manuals can be viewed at any Garfield County library branch.

Increase knowledge about healthy sexuality and relationships

Increase the intention to abstain from sexual behavior

Increase the intention to use condoms when deciding to become sexually active

LONG TERM GOAL

Decrease teen pregnancy in Garfield County by 2%

What is PREP?

The Personal Responsibility Education Program was authorized by Congress as part of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a way to help reduce teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as their negative consequences and associated risk behaviors.

Colorado is one state PREP grantee with three counties originally being sub-awarded grant funds; Garfield, Denver and Huerfano. Colorado Sexual Health Initiative grantees were allowed discretion in designing their programs. All are aligned with four primary expectations:

Be evidence-based
Provide education on both abstinence and contraceptive use
Target 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
Educate youth on at least three of six adulthood preparation topics

Garfield County PREP focuses on:

Healthy Life Skills
Healthy Relationships
Adult-Child Communication

One way PREP works to increase adult-child communication is by offering our Beyond the Birds and the Bees workshop to anyone interested in becoming a truly trusted adult. This interactive workshop is appropriate for parents but is specifically designed for professionals who work with youth in systems of care.

See PREP Results in Garfield County