HIV Prevention Education Program

Prevention Education Grants

Purpose

Grants are available to help local school districts develop and implement effective HIV prevention education for school-age youth.  The program began in 1992 and is funded through a cooperative agreement between the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Adolescent and School Health.

Funding Priorities

Priority will be given to applications that:

1. serve schools located in areas with the greatest numbers of HIV/AIDS or sexually transmitted infections in Missouri,

2. implement within comprehensive health education effective skills-based instruction targeting students with a disproportionate risk of HIV/AIDS or sexually transmitted infections

3. involve students, parents, and a representative of the local health department or local HIV prevention community planning group in planning and implementing the program, and

4. provide professional development for teachers and staff to ensure successful implementation of the program.

Available Funds and Eligibility
(Contingent on award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
A maximum of 5 grants of approximately $3,000 each will be awarded, with priority given to schools in geographic areas with the greatest numbers of HIV/AIDS or sexually transmitted infections.  Any public school may apply.  Funds for this program are allocated on a competitive basis.  Funding recommendations are made by a committee of DESE personnel and outside readers.

Grant cycle
The grant period is August 1 to March 31.

Application Procedures
Applications are available in the spring of each year and must be submitted in June.  To obtain an application contact the HIV Prevention Education Supervisor at 573-751-3805.

 Rationale and Focus
The Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) requires school districts to provide comprehensive health instruction, specifically including HIV/AIDS prevention education, for all students at the elementary and middle/junior high school levels.  High schools must offer 0.5 unit of health education, specifically including HIV/AIDS prevention.  The content of instruction is determined by local school districts.  Funding from this program allows school districts to develop and implement effective HIV/STI prevention instruction.

The need for early and effective HIV prevention instruction is apparent from the 2003 Missouri Youth Risk Behavior Survey.  Fifty-two percent of ninth- through twelfth-grade students said that they had engaged in sexual intercourse in their lifetime, including 42 percent of ninth-graders.  Sixty-seven percent of the students who had engaged in sexual intercourse in the previous three months said that they or their partner had used a condom.

Not all youth enrolled in school are equally at risk for HIV infection.  Priority populations for this program include youth with special needs, homeless youth, youth in alternative schools, youth of color, and sexual-minority youth (i.e., lesbian, gay, and bisexual).

A review of school-based programs which were effective in reducing sexual risk behaviors among youth revealed the following common characteristics

1. Curricula were based on social learning or social influence theories.

2. Each focused on reducing specific sexual risk-taking behaviors that may lead to HIV infection or unintended pregnancy.

3. Basic, accurate information about the risks of unprotected sex and how to avoid the risks were presented using activities, which personalized the information for students.

4. Instruction included activities for handling social or media influences and pressures to engage in sexual behaviors.

5. Individual values and group norms against unwanted and unprotected sex were reinforced in developmentally appropriate ways.

6. Communication skills (refusal and negotiation) were modeled and practiced and efforts were made to increase student confidence to use the skills.

No programs reviewed produced an increase in sexual activity among students.

*Source:   “School-Based Programs to Reduce Sexual Risk Behaviors: A Review of Effectiveness,” Public Health Reports. May-June 1994, 109:3, pp. 339-359.

Example Project Activities

• Selection and purchase of a skills-based curriculum which has evidence of effectiveness in reducing sexual risk behaviors among school-age youth

• Curriculum development for integrating skills-based instruction within the existing school health education curriculum, focusing specifically on HIV/STI and unintended pregnancy prevention

• Teacher or staff in-service to implement skills-based instruction in the local school health education curriculum, focusing on HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention

• Activities to reinforce classroom instruction, such as:

• Development of public information messages

• Community service and awareness projects

• Student-parent activities

• Peer education activities

• Drama productions

Funding Procedures
Fifty percent of the approved grant budget will be forwarded with the grant approval notice.  The remaining funds will be reimbursed after the Final Project and Final Expenditure reports are received and approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Unused funds must be returned to the Department through a check payable to the Treasurer of the State of Missouri.

 The Department reserves the right to negotiate the budget prior to project approval.  Funds may be spent only for the items and amounts approved in the project budget.  Variations between the approved budget and actual expenditures of up to 10 percent in any expense object will be allowed provided total expenditures do not exceed the total approved project budget.  Expenditures in excess of the allowable variation must have prior written approval by the Federal

Programs Section or they will be disallowed and must be charged to other accounts of the school district.

Grant moneys received by a district must be used within the budget period or returned to the Department.  Local carryover of funds not expended during the grant period is not allowed.  The grant period under this program is August 1 to March 31.

Allowable Expenditures
Salaries
Teacher/staff stipends for time beyond normal contract duties
Substitute pay and district FICA share

Purchased Services
Speaker fees (Maximum of $500)
Speaker travel, lodging, and meals
Printing and duplication (by commercial printer)
Media development/promotional materials

Materials and Supplies
Curriculum materials (not classroom sets of textbooks)

Resource materials
Periodicals
Instructional videos and/or software
Printing and duplication (done within the district)

Indirect cost
May not be in excess of the grant maximum and must be derived using the most recent restricted rate assigned to the district.

Equipment and food may not be purchased with these funds.

Grant Requirements
Local Program Review Panel
All educational materials and activities relating to HIV/AIDS which are produced for or distributed to school-based populations with funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are required to be reviewed by a local Program Review Panel prior to purchase, development, and distribution.  This includes all written materials, pictorials, audiovisuals, questionnaires, survey instruments, and educational sessions produced or purchased by the local school district or its subcontractor.  The review panel must consist of no less than five persons representing a reasonable cross section of the general population and must include a representative of a state or local health department who has appropriate expertise.  An existing advisory committee, such as a school health education advisory committee, may be used to meet this requirement provided necessary member representation is in place.  The local school district shall maintain minutes of all meetings indicating approval or disapproval of materials and activities developed or purchased and distributed through the project.  These minutes should be maintained on file for audit purposes.

Reporting
A list of Program Review Panel members must be submitted to the Department of Education HIV Prevention Education Supervisor PRIOR to any expenditure of funds.  The Final Project and Final Expenditure reports must be submitted to the Department by the project ending date.  The

Department will provide necessary forms.  Copies of minutes from all local Program Review Panel meetings must be maintained on file in the local district.  The DESE HIV Prevention

Education Supervisor will provide technical assistance and grant monitoring during the grant period.

Abstinence-Only Education
Grant moneys received under this grant program cannot be used to fund abstinence-only education.  Federal funding for abstinence-only education is disbursed through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.  For more information, telephone the Adolescent Health Coordinator at
573-751-6215 or write to:

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Bureau of Family Health, Adolescent Health Program
930 Wildwood
P.O. Box 570
Jefferson City, MO  65102-0570

Local school or district policies that restrict HIV prevention education to abstinence-only education might not comply with Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) requirements and Missouri state law 170.015, which states that instruction in human sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases must stress that abstinence from sexual activity is the preferred and only completely effective means of preventing sexually transmitted infections, and must  “present students with the latest medically factual information regarding both the possible side effects and health benefits of all forms of contraception, including the success and failure rates for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”  Abstinence-only education should supplement, but may not replace, required instruction in HIV prevention.