Families United To Prevent Teen Pregnancy : More than just a program; it's a way of life

High self-esteem, achievable short and long term goals, understanding values, and increasing communication and social skills is some of what is learned through Families United to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (FUPTP), an abstinence based pregnancy prevention program for youth between the ages of 9 and 15 years. Since beginning in 1986, more than 1,800 youth have participated in various components of FUPTP.

Program Components

FUPTP is offered year-round through two program components: School based and Community based.

The School based program is conducted by our program leaders everyday after school for two hours. We implement FUPTP in 38th Street School, Westside Academy II, Carson Academy of Science and Congress Elementary School. We serve 35 youth per school. The 35 participants stay with the program all school year. In addition to providing a daily program, we also offer presentations on curriculum topics to all schools in the Milwaukee are. Last school year, more than 1,700 students received school presentations. While the School component is offered to students who attend the aforementioned schools, our Community based program is open to everyone.

The Community program is offered on Saturday mornings during the school year, and is held at Rosalie Manor for 60 youth. FUPTP is also conducted during the summer. The summer program is offered daily for between 5 and 7 weeks. This summer, FUPTP was held at 38th Street School and ran from June 26 through August 4. Over 100 youth participated this summer.

FUPTP Curriculum

The FUPTP curriculum was designed by Rosalie Manor staff in 1990, one of the first years the program was federally funded. The abstinence-based curriculum includes units on decision making, self-esteem, values, goal setting, communication and social skills, male/female relationships and anatomy, and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, we work on group building which allows participants to feel comfortable sharing thoughts and asking questions in both small and large groups.

Through the curriculum topics, mentees are exposed to many aspects of life they may not otherwise experience. For example, when we talk about goal setting, we discuss higher education. To help mentees understand what college is like, we visit local campuses. This gives mentees the opportunity to ask questions about scholarships, classes they should take in high school, grade requirements, and tuition costs. We also bring in speakers to discuss topics such as gang violence, street safety, and careers.

Jennifer, the FUPTP school presenter at Congress, praises our curriculum by saying, "the curriculum not only tells what positive things kids should be doing [staying in school, abstaining from drugs and sexual activity], but we give mentees the tools and confidence to grow into a person who will do those positive things. The curriculum also stresses the importance of being a positive leader."

Family Participation

Family involvement is one key to the success of FUPTP participants. Because having the support of the family behind them is important, we do as much as we can to foster the relationship between children and their parents. We offer many opportunities for parents or other family members to become involved. Each month, we hold a parent meeting in which we touch on curriculum topics and bring in speakers to discuss issues concerning parents. The meetings also give parents the opportunity to visit with each other and get to know the program staff.

In addition to the meetings, we plan family events in which they can participate, volunteer, or sit back and enjoy. Over the past year, FUPTP has held a bowl-a-thon, a lock-in, talent and award show and a rally for abstinence.

One of the best uses of parents involves the curriculum. We have many handouts which mentees must take home and have their family read and complete together. The handouts range from naming three things their child does which makes them feel proud, to discussing sexuality. Vincent, the FUPTP Manager, views family participation as one of the strengths of the program. "The strength of FUPTP is that it unites parents and children. In a society where we often do not sit down as a family and eat dinner together, the program creates an atmosphere for parents and children to communicate on important an tough issues," Vincent stated.

What Makes FUPTP Unique?

Because we deal with FUPTP on a daily basis, we sometimes take it for granted and forget what a fabulous program FUPTP is! FUPTP is seen by the federal government as a nationally approved model for abstinence programs. Marty Kerrigan, Associate Director, states, "While there are other program which are approved, none look like FUPTP." She further explains, "we serve both girls AND boys, where many programs only serve girls. We also provide programming for longer periods of time. For example, during the school year, we implement the program in a daily after school program. This means that participants are receiving a minimum of 300 hours per school year. In comparison, some programs are designed to offer programming for a total of only 15 hours!"

While not a unique concept, our mentors are definitely utilized and trained in a different way than in other programs. "Mentors are hired for the program, and must be non-pregnant and non-parenting teens," Marty stated. Mentors are between the ages of 15-20 years and are small group leaders and role models for the mentees and for each other. Many of the mentors come from the same neighborhoods as the mentees and can easily relate to some of their issues. All mentors receive intensive training on the curriculum topics, must pass an exam on the topics, and go through a rigorous interview process before being hired.

To show the effectiveness of our programs, Rosalie Manor provides outside evaluations on our programs, and FUPTP is no exception. We have conducted an evaluation of FUPTP since 1989. This is another aspect to the uniqueness of the program. "While this seems like an obvious part of a program, many agencies do not evaluate their programs, at least not to the extent that we do," Marty said. The evaluation examines the changes in attitude and increased knowledge the participants receive after the program. We also have satisfaction surveys for mentors, youth, parents and community partners such as school principals. Based on the program's success, the Federal government chose FUPTP to be one of four abstinence based programs to be federally evaluated. This evaluation is being conducted across the United States and will determine how effective abstinence based pregnancy prevention programs are. We are proud that FUPFP was chosen to be a part of this process.

Why FUPTP Works When Other Programs Fail

There are many reasons why FUPTP has been a successful program for 14 years, but the number one reason is that the participants like the program. Youth remain in FUPTP for a long period of time. Many begin when they are 9 years old and continue until they are 15. Then, they have the option to join Teens on the Move or apply to be a teen mentor. One of the reasons mentees remain with FUPTP is because of our staff. We are fortunate to have a team that works well together, and who genuinely care about the mentees, mentors, and each other. Another reason is that mentees form a new, positive peer group. As Vincent said, "Kids see other kids with the same values, and the peer pressure they receive is positive rather than negative." Most importantly, mentees believe in what they are being taught. Vincent, being the newest member of the FUPTP team, noticed how the mentees said the pledge. "The pledge is not only spoken, but it penetrates to their heart. They get into it and it becomes more than words. Whey they say they promise not to do drugs, they say it with authority and mean it."

FUPTP is not only successful in reducing the number of teen pregnancies in the Milwaukee area, we are successful in changing the lives of the children we serve. We are astounded as to how many teachers tell our staff members that they see a positive change in a student who is in FUPTP. Teachers have stated that student's attendance increases, homework is completed, and behavior changes for the better. They have also commented that FUPTP students become positive leaders in the classroom and are willing to help others.

2000-2001

This year, we expect to serve 350 youth through this program. FUPTP will begin in early fall. To learn more about FUPTP, please go to the "Families United to Prevent Teen Pregnancy" page of our website, or call (414) 449-2868.