III.E.2.c. Adolescent Health: Application Year

 

State Priority Need:

Reduce Preventable Deaths in the MCH population with a focus on reduction and elimination of inequities in mortality rates

 

National Performance Measure (2020 - 2025):

NPM 7.2- Rate of hospitalization for non-fatal injury per 100,000 children, ages 10 through 19

 

Evidence-Based/Informed Strategy Measure (2020 - 2025): 

ESM 7.2.1- Reduce count of suicide related hospitalizations in adolescents, ages 10 - 19

 

Current Activities and Plan for Coming Year:

 

As children transition to adolescence, they experience a critical period of cognitive, mental, emotional, and social change that can be overwhelming. Parents surveyed in the five-year needs assessment rated mental health support as the number one health need for their teens. As the transition period can lead to various mental health challenges, the risk for suicide can increase.

 

Suicide rates in youth have been increasing over the past five years and must be addressed by state agencies and partners as the leading cause of non-fatal hospitalizations in youth ages 10 – 19. Suicide rates have been steadily increasing for teens ages 10 – 14. The suicide rate for teens 10 - 14 has increased from only 2.4 per 100,000 teens in 2018 to 7.39 per 100,000 teens in 2019. The 2019 rate is two times higher for teens ages 15 – 19 (14.82  per 100,000 teens). IDOH MCH and FRP will integrate youth suicide prevention into existing programs, schools, and via adolescent health clinical care while also expanding our partnerships with the Division of Mental Health and Addiction and the Department of Education. By normalizing the conversation and screening tools for youth mental health, IDOH hopes to decrease these rates.

 

Youth Risk Behavior Survey

To better understand the mental health needs and social support of teens, IDOH MCH is committed to obtaining weighted YRBS data. By surveying youth and obtaining regularly weighted data, IDOH will be able to see mental health and suicide ideation trends in real-time. Suicide rates and non-fatal suicide rates are likely underreported by parents and caregivers due to stigma, which means it is critical to examine multiple data points to understand the full picture. IDOH also intends to share YRBS results with youth and solicit youth voices to help inform any work related to suicide and injury prevention.

 

Throughout the past year, IDOH has worked tirelessly to obtain weighted data through the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Indiana has not had weighted YRBS data since 2015. In the most recent cycle (2021), IDOH partnered closely with various youth-serving organizations and state agencies to form an advisory board to promote and assist with the survey. Though it was difficult to gain survey clearance in schools during the Covid-19 pandemic, the team leveraged every relationship possible. Ultimately, we believe the hard work paid off, with 43/49 schools participating in the survey. If data is weighted, Indiana will have a better understanding of the current state of adolescent health, source new ideas, and improve overall programming for teens that aid in encouraging more positive outcomes.

 

Adolescent and Young Adult CoIIN

MCH staff have just concluded participation in the Adolescent and Young Adult Behavioral Health Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (AYA CoIIN) to reduce stigma of depression screening among youth and normalize screening and reimbursement among providers. The AYA CoIIN team in Indiana worked to conduct focus groups among youth while also assisting healthcare facilities to include depression screenings and suicide risk assessments as a normal part of care during annual exams. IDOH MCH will continue working with healthcare providers and other partners to ensure these are still being conducted.

 

Suicide and Overdose Fatality Review Teams (SOFR)

The SOFR Program Manager co-leads a state-level subcommittee of the Indiana Child Fatality Review Committee that focuses on review of pediatric suicide deaths. For Indiana to obtain five-year trend data associated with pediatric suicides, the subcommittee recruited a multi-disciplinary membership and began reviewing fatalities from the years 2017-2019. This data and the resulting recommendations will be added to that of the State Team to create a comprehensive report on pediatric suicide in Indiana.

 

IDOH has started to train, promote, and utilize psychological autopsy to understand the often-asked “why?” question raised by survivors regarding the suicide of their loved ones and to better ascertain risk factors for suicide while helping inform prevention efforts. Activities will include expanding the number of trained professionals in Indiana and evaluating qualitative data they gather.

 

Work will continue with local fatality review teams to complete effective reviews by collecting all needed reports and medical records for a thorough in-depth, evidence-based review. The information will provide complete and accurate data for entry into the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention-Case Reporting System (CRS). Data regarding adolescent injury and fatality can then be analyzed and disseminated to communities. With this information, evidenced-based and targeted interventions can be made to reduce the number of adolescent deaths. In communities, Community Action Teams (CATs) may implement prevention actions. FRP will continue to work with teams to address mental health challenges and service gaps that may be contributing to adolescent suicide behaviors.

 

As Indiana begins to author its Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan, FRP has been recognized as a valuable partner and added to the efforts. FRP is assisting the work of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Statewide Suicide Prevention Coordinator in developing appropriate SMART goals for the state. By leading two of the planning workgroups, FRP staff have allowed the voice of public health to drive the effort to address better data surveillance and social determinants of health to improve the quality of life for all Hoosiers. Recommendations from these two groups will directly impact the Strategic Plan which was presented to the Indiana legislature in July 2021. Now that a plan is in place, MCH staff are also involved in actualizing the plan and are working to help credential youth peer support specialists who are able to directly serve youth stuggling with mental health challenges including suicidal thoughts.

 

Indiana Suicide Prevention Network

FRP and MCH are also members of the statewide Suicide Prevention Network (ISPN). This network is comprised of members from the public and private sector, as well as numerous state agencies, who collaborate on suicide prevention efforts. ISPN also hosts an annual suicide prevention conference. Kelly Cunningham from the FRP team was selected to lead this group as of January 2021 and will continue assisting the group in getting to zero suicides.

 

Handle with Care

IDOH will expand programs such as Handle With Care, which includes training communities and first responders to provide emotional support on-scene where EMS, fire, or law enforcement respond and a young victim is present. First responders provide a HWC notification to the school that simply includes the adolescent’s name and the words “Handle With Care.” This is distributed to staff that may encounter the student to ensure that they are watching for atypical behavior from the identified student and can respond appropriately. The notification system is designed to be discrete, and information provided does not indicate what type of event the teen may have experienced. School staff are trained to provide trauma-informed support as needed. They are also trained not to ask questions or try to gather information about the event. If the child requires additional, formal supports, the school will then help connect the student to mental health services.

 

Five additional school districts will begin implementation of HWC over the next two years, as part of the current funding opportunity. Additionally, communities not selected for grant activities are expressing interest in this work. FRP is working to support their efforts as well.

In addition to implementation of HWC, FRP is working to implement trauma-informed practices countywide in hopes that these practices decrease secondary trauma while also increasing positive childhood experiences that have been shown to mitigate adverse experiences.

 

FRP is committed to increasing awareness of the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs education needs to be incorporated into all direct services to children and youth, including schools, medical facilities, mental health facilities, and first responders. IDOH will provide education about the effects of trauma, particularly on children who are victims of crime and intentional injury. This will be done through activities which provide information about services for young victims, promotion of referrals to specialized, evidence-based, trauma-informed victim services for children and youth, advocacy, training communities and first responders to provide emotional support on-scene of an event where EMS, fire, or law enforcement respond, and a young victim is present. Partnership with the ACEs Indiana Coalition and mental health professionals at both the state and local levels will increase the ability of communities to address the needs of at-risk children and families.

 

State Priority Need:

Promote Physical Activity through policy improvements and changes to the built environment.

 

National Performance Measure (2020 - 2025):

NPM 8.2 - Percent of adolescents, ages 12 through 17 who are physically active at least 60 minutes per day

 

Evidence Based/Informed Strategy Measure (2020 - 2025): 

ESM8.2- Number of schools participating in an activity (training, professional development, policy development, technical assistance, PA in-school programming, PA before and after school programming) to improve physical activity among adolescents (12-17).

ESM8.2.2- Percent of adolescents ages 12-17 impacted by improvements to the built environment

 

Community Mini-Grants:

DNPA is currently supporting seven community mini-grants. The programs that these community mini-grants support, range from classroom specific to community wide initiatives and provide schools, educators, and students the resources to be physically active both in and out of school. DNPA plans to provide the opportunity for each entity below to continue their program throughout the 2020-2021 year. If a grantee does not wish to continue with funding, new grantees will be solicited.

 

Below is the planned reach of each grantee’s program affecting kids ages 12-17.

 

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County:
  • Planned reach: 164 youth with an average of 41 youth in each club daily; 506 (6-17 years of age) enrolled in program though numbers have fluctuated due to COVID-19
  • Program: Expand on ClubFit afterschool program in two additional sites for ages 11-13.

 

• Tindley Summit Academy:
  • Planned reach: 50-60 students
  • Program: Expansion of afterschool programming (K-6th): basketball and cheerleading; start a boxing program, flower yoga; GoNoodle Plus.

 

• Embracing Together:
  • Planned reach: 110 youth and adolescents
  • Program: Update therapy and physical activity spaces as well as a playground with new adapted and handicap accessible equipment for youth and adolescents, 6-17 years of age who display developmental and intellectual disabilities with limited functioning the opportunity to engage in safe and inclusive play with their peers and within their current programming.

 

• Center for Homeless:
  • Planned reach: 40 youth and adolescents
  • Program: Expansion of Youth Development Program to offer new physical activity equipment to youth and adolescents 6-17 years of age living at the facility. Offering new equipment will encourage youth and adolescents to participate and improve their overall mental, physical, social, and emotional health.

 

• Holy Angels Catholic School:
  • Planned Reach: 135 students
  • Program: Purchase new physical education equipment for Pre K-6th grade students; equipment will be utilized during physical education classes and as a part of the afterschool programming offered.

 

We have additional grants planned for the 2021-2022 year, which includes playground supplies for a church who sees adolescents after school, a story trail, which will bring families to a park in a low socioeconomic area, PE equipment for middle and high school adolescents.

 

Professional Development Trainings:

Due to COVID-19, DNPA is not planning to provide Professional Development trainings in 2021. Trainings typically focus on K-12 PA/PE curriculum and integrating evidence-based practices to increase physical activity levels. Previous years and future years will include a focus on middle school and high school aged adolescents in addition to adapted PE and inclusion.

 

Later in the application year, we will be providing professional development to educators and community organizations, and we will focus those on having direct impact to middle and high school aged adolescents.

 

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program Training:

DNPA has the ability to facilitate Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) trainings that help school professionals form action plans on increasing access to physical activity in a multitude of school settings including: before/after school, physical education, in-classroom, community events, and staff wellness. Due to COVID-19, DNPA staff members planned and organized a introductory virtual training in the fall of 2020 and have recorded additional segments of the training in the summer of 2021 with a plan to release these virtual trainings in the fall of 2021. These trainings will give middle and high schools a framework for increasing physical for their students, ages 12-17. Options include before- and after-school options (not just athletics) in addition to the Physical Education class.

 

Built environment strategies

Create temporary changes to the built environment to promote Physical Activity through the Tactical Urbanism Grant Program

Funds distributed through this grant will be used to implement pedestrian safety measures that demonstrate the ability to create safer, healthier neighborhoods by promoting active lifestyles and active transportation for children and adults. Grantees were selected by a competitive application process and grant amounts ranged from $4,000 – $10,000. Grant projects included new pedestrian crosswalks, pop-up bike lanes, traffic calming installations, traffic speed reduction improvements, and pedestrian wayfinding improvements that increase safe access to everyday destinations for children and adults.  The following grantees were awarded Tactical Urbanism Demonstration Grants in 2021 spanning from March – September. We will fund additional communities the following March – September.:

 

• City of Columbus:  Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation
  • The grantee will implement a tactical urbanism demonstration project to test several design elements of a proposed bicycle boulevard on 17th Street between Noblitt Park and Donner Park, increasing safe access to these two destinations for children and adults. This demonstration project will include a traffic diverter to limit vehicle access on part of the corridor, pavement markings to guide bicyclists through the corridor, a mini traffic circle to calm traffic, and new 4-way stop intersections.
  • The grantee will conduct promotional and evaluation activities including vehicular traffic measurements (speed and volume) before and during the project; measures of bicycle & pedestrian comfort at this location through a community survey; project signage at the site and digital promotion that will include a link to an online survey; and bicycle and pedestrian counts before and during project.
  • Potential Reach: 5,344 adolescents 12-17

 

• City of Gary: Gary Community School Corporation
  • This project will implement low-cost improvements in highly visible locations including the 900 block of Broadway (downtown's southern entrance) and the Adam Benjamin Metro Center, an intermodal transportation facility on the north end of downtown Gary.
  • The project features installation of artistic crosswalks, wheelchair ramps and path-of-travel improvements at locations lacking any marked paths or ramps across a state highway, helping to create safe access to public transportation and destinations for children and adults.
  • Potential Reach: 1,827 adolescents 12-17

 

• Indianapolis Windsor Park Neighborhood: Indianapolis Public Schools School District
  • This project includes planning, promotion, and implementation of six new pedestrian crosswalks connecting Spades Park, Pogue’s Run Trail, Spades Park Library, and the Kan-Kan Community Theater in the Windsor Park neighborhood on the near east side of Indianapolis. All these locations are destinations for children that currently lack safe, visible street crossings. 
  • The grantee will also conduct promotional and evaluation activities for the project.
  • Potential Reach: 9,230 adolescents 12-17

 

• Town of Middlebury: Middlebury Community Schools

• The grantee will implement a tactical urbanism demonstration project to safely define the sharing of two neighborhood street for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists to access an adjacent local park and a regional trail. The project will visually define the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail where it crosses town streets; and install flexible delineators and barricades to temporarily separate motorized vehicle traffic from the adjacent trail to make the trail and the street safer and more comfortable for all users, including children and adults.  
• The project will be included in the grantee's Education and Action program, offering trail safety education while providing an opportunity to measure the number of users of the project improvements.
• Potential Reach: 2,167 adolescents 12-17

 

• North Vernon: Jennings County School Corporation
  • The grantee will implement a tactical urbanism demonstration project along 800 feet of Vernon Street creating a safe walking and bicycling connection from the adjacent neighborhood to newly developed Tripton Park, which is a destination for children and adults. The project will convert Vernon Street to a one-way street and add a pedestrian and bicycle lane along the south side of the street. 
  • The grantee will conduct evaluation activities through various channels such as social media and/or surveying. Feedback will be provided to the Mayor and City Council members whereby that data will be captured via direct request. The process to obtain additional direct feedback will be organized through a survey tool, such as Survey Monkey.
  • Potential Reach: 1,809 adolescents 12-17

 

• Richland-Bean Blossom: Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation
  • The project will provide funding to help install approximately 1,500 feet of new asphalt sidewalk adjacent to a long entrance drive connecting the Edgewood High School main building in Ellettsville to an existing sidewalk along the school property frontage that provides a safe route for children to walk to school. 
  • The new sidewalk will support an ongoing safe routes to school program at the school. Parents and school-aged children will be part of a student-led, project-based learning group that will engage residents within the community through the planning and implementation of the new sidewalk and the overall safe routes to school project.
  • Potential Reach: 1,204 adolescents 12-17

 

• City of South Bend: South Bend Community School Corporation
  • This project includes planning, promotion, implementation, and evaluation of a temporary pedestrian crosswalk and traffic calming measures on Thomas Street, adjacent to the El Campito Child Development Center and new community garden, connecting the Child Development Center and the garden to the adjacent neighborhood.  The Center and the proposed garden are destinations for children that currently lack a safe, visible street crossing.  The project will include a temporary pedestrian refuge island and other traffic calming elements to create a safe crossing for pedestrians and calm the traffic through the area.
  • The grantee will also conduct promotional and evaluation activities for the project.
  • Potential Reach: 7,433 adolescents 12-17

 

 

• Terre Haute: Vigo County School Corporation
  • The grantee will implement a tactical urbanism demonstration project to support a walk-to-school program for Fuqua Elementary School in Terre Haute and encourage the use of a regional trail by students to walk to the school. School logo artwork will be applied to the pavement at an existing cross walk to the school to draw attention to the walk-to-school program and increase visibility of the crosswalk.  Additional temporary stencils and temporary signs created by students will be deployed along walk-to-school routes as part of the project. The stencils and signs will draw attention to existing bicycle parking at the school as well.
  • The grantee will conduct evaluation activities including a parent survey at the school before and after the walk-to-school program using a template based on the National Center for Safe Routes to School.  The grantee will work with the Terre Haute Police Department to monitor vehicular speeds in the school zone adjacent to the walk-to-school routes before, during and after the deployment of the tactical urbanism grant elements.
  • Potential Reach: 6,098 adolescents 12-17

 

Support changes in the built environment to promote Physical Activity

 

Title V funding will be used to promote increased levels of physical activity at the community level through changes to the built environment. Technical assistance will be provided to stakeholders and Purdue Extension Community Wellness Coordinators at the local, regional, and state level to identify opportunities to make changes to the built environment supporting physical activity. Technical assistance activities include providing guidance to stakeholders for the planning and installation of multi-use trails, safe pedestrian crossings, bikeways, safe routes to schools and parks, and complete streets. Children ages 12-17 have the opportunity to walk and bicycle to a part-time job, to middle or high school, to the library, to their friends’ houses, to extracurricular activities and these types of built environment changes can help them get to places safely, while also getting in their physical activity to help set them up for lifelong health and wellness.

 

Coordinate Active Living Workshops to plan built environment improvements with community stakeholders 

 

Title V funding will assist in building support within the communities across Indiana to host a series of regional Active Living Workshops that will enable local residents to create actions plans that lead to changes in the built environment supporting higher levels of physical activity in their communities. The workshops will help adolescents, ages 12-17 get involved in community action and will also help their community decision-makers plan for their community to be more conducive to active living, which will in turn make it easier for them to safety transport to a part-time job, a friend’s house, to school or to an extracurricular activity. 

 

Workplace Wellness

The DNPA provides technical assistance to workplaces throughout Indiana on how to establish successful wellness programs. The Work@Health training gives workplaces the tools to start a program, do a needs assessment, compile data and survey employees. The DNPA also provides mini-grants to workplaces on a variety of nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and lactation support activities. This work has a trickle down effect to children ages 12-17 because adults will bring home information gained from wellness programs and integrate it into the family structure. They will especially pass off nutrition related information to their adolescents before they head off to college or trade school, but will also encourage them to be physically active before and after school, especially because not much physical activity occurs during the school day at the middle and high school levels.

 

Boards

The DNPA Division Director sits the Executive Team for Top 10, a coalition in Indianapolis that focuses on making policy, systems, and environmental changes related to nutrition, physical activity and tobacco prevention and cessation in Indianapolis. This can indirectly impact physical activity for children ages 12-17 by enacting policies creating more environmental supports in the community.

 

The Director also is part of the Kinesiology and Public Health Advisory Board for the University of Indianapolis and provides feedback to how the Public Health program can best prepare students for the public health workforce. This impacts adolescents’ health, as well, as it can better prepare college students to have the right experience and skills when creating programs and policies as a professional.

 

The Healthy Schools Action Team (HSAT) is a subset of the Hoosier Health and Wellness Alliance (which is a coalition focused on statewide change related to food access and food insecurity, physical activity, and health equity). The DNPA is an active member of both groups. HSAT is directly related to working with schools and collecting and disseminating best practices. This directly impacts adolescents ages 12-17 be better equipped to live a healthy lifestyle, if their schools are following best practices.

 

 

State Priority Need:

Access to High-quality, family-centered, trusted care is available to all Hoosiers.

 

National Performance Measure (2020 - 2025):

NPM 10: Percent of adolescents, ages 12 through 17, with a preventive medical visit in the past year.

 

Evidence Based/Informed Strategy Measure (2020 - 2025): 

ESM 10.1: Knowledge, Behavior, and Confidence Change in Physicians managing Adolescent Health Concerns

 

Current Activities and Plan for Coming Year:

Assessing physical, emotional, and social development is important at every stage of life, especially during adolescence. As children grow older, they are less likely to see the doctor for annual check-ups and it becomes more pertinent to establish positive health behaviors as they begin their transition to adulthood. Well-care visits for teens reduce the chances of missed opportunities to screen, provide recommendations, and offer support that could considerably influence the health and development of young people.

 

Adolescent Champion Model

IDOH MCH recently partnered with the University of Michigan’s Adolescent Health Initiative to implement the Adolescent Champion Model (ACM). The model has been implemented and replicated in many states and aims to create a teen-friendly health care environment. It helps to ensure providers feel comfortable and confident when seeing teen patients while also encouraging clinics to implement changes to the physical office space and staff behavior to be more welcoming and engaging with youth. The first cohort in Indiana started July 1, 2021. MCH is supporting the clinics to make the change by covering contracting costs to The University of Michigan and by providing a stipend to each clinic to pay for professional development or supplies to create the changes.

 

The ACM’s cohort one currently has five clinics participating in various locations around the state.

• Adult and Child Health Clinic - Indianapolis
• Ascension St. Vincent - Salem
• Clinton County Family Planning - Frankfort
• Forest Manor Health Center - Indianapolis
• Indiana Health Center – South Bend

These clinics will be serving youth populations with some of the highest rates of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections and other at-risk youth populations such as those in foster care, experiencing homelessness, involved in the criminal justice system, or have a history of neglect/abuse.
 

Healthcare providers and staff will be trained during an 18-month span in a variety of adolescent topics such as consent laws for the state, confidentiality best practices, adolescent brain development, non-verbal communication bias, and cultural responsiveness. MCH is planning a second cohort to start in early 2022.  

 

 IDOH MCH is planning to partner with youth served by our partners in creating a marketing campaign that promotes the adolescent well-visit. Youth voices will help inform MCH on how to best reach youth and eliminate barriers for them in getting the care they need when they need it.

 

Youth Voices

To further encourage all teens to prioritize seeking care, IDOH MCH plans to create and sustain a youth advisory board for teens and young adults who will assist in marketing campaigns and other effective strategies to promote optimal health. Youth voices are essential to inform IDOH on how to best reach youth, create relevant materials, and reduce barriers for them to advocate and access care they need when they need it. MCH staff leveraged funding from the Adolescent and Young Adults Behavioral Health Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (AYA CoIIN) to begin engaging youth and ask more about their behavior around seeking care. The purpose of the CoIIN is to reduce stigma about mental health care while increasing depression screening among providers.

 

In collaboration with partners statewide, IDOH MCH staff recruited 15 youth and young adults, ages 16-22, to participate in a three session virtual focus group opportunity this summer. Topics discussed include mental health culture, stigma, social media, bullying, coping, self-regulation, and more. Conversations were facilitated by an evaluator who will also produce a report deliverable reflecting youth mental health themes brought up during sessions with an anticipated date of release in August 2021. The information collected will better inform internal projects and serve as a tool for other state agencies and external entities as they begin incorporating more youth voice in their projects. The focus group acted as a primer and helped in laying the foundation to transition into a permanent state-level Youth Advisory Board (YAB). The YAB will be youth-led and serve as a platform to elevate youth and young adult voices, encourage advocacy, and offer opportunities to share youth-friendly/relevant ideas that subsequently inform all programs, decision making, and systems-thinking within IDOH. 

 

 

State Priority Need:

Strengthen Mental, Social, and Emotional Well-being through partnerships and programs that build capacity and reduce stigma.

 

State Performance Measure (2020 - 2025):

SPM 4 : Number of youth served with a Positive Youth Development curriculum, ages 12 – 17

 

Current Activities and Plan for Coming Year:

 

The Title V Needs Assessment emphasized the importance of prioritizing optimal health and well-being for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) in Indiana. As AYAs transition into adulthood, they are tasked with more responsibilities and must prepare to navigate relationships, consequences, technology, and more. Integrating a Positive Youth Development Framework in all programs equip AYAs with tools to thrive in an increasingly competitive and multi-faceted society. Through these efforts, Indiana teens feel greater support to make more positive, healthier decisions while simultaneously building their social, emotional, self-management, advocacy, and coping skills that detract the urge to engage in risky behaviors. Teens learn ways to effectively ease anxiety, participate in healthy relationships, and focus on long-term goals by understanding the consequences of their actions. As more youth engage in PYD-focused programming, more youth in Indiana will be closer to maximizing their full potential.

 

Currently, MCH is implementing PYD-focused programming through two grant programs: Sexual Risk Avoidance Education and Teen Pregnancy Prevention: Tier One Grant program.

 

Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program

The State AHA continues to provide guidance and oversight to the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program (SRAE) sub-grantees. For the upcoming 2021-2023 Fiscal Year, in efforts to embed equity in all aspects of our work, IDOH MCH  released a more equitable request for applications process with the intent to partner with more diverse sub-grantees serving populations made vulnerable by systems of power across the state. Increasing partnerships with external entities with whom we have not typically partnered, including youth and young adults, will cultivate more relevant opportunities for AYAs to develop professional skills. The application process led to some new partnerships who will be funded in the upcoming year.

 

Grantees will continue implementing positive youth development programming around the state. Focused on healthy relationships, communication skills, negotiating skills, and more. Partners are able to reach nearly 15,000 youth per year with this programming. IDOH will continue its partnership with Health Care Education and Training, who provides training and technical assistance, with plans for them to also evaluate and provide fidelity monitoring services to grantees as well. HCET has worked to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes since 1994 and serves multiple states in the Midwest Region.

 

Teen Pregnancy Prevention

To help reduce risky behaviors in youth IDOH MCH is partnering with six implementing organizations to deliver the Botvin LifeSkills Training program. LifeSkills is a peer reviewed, evidence-based program that focuses on teaching youth healthy decision making in all aspects of life and creating healthy relationships. This program is currently being implemented in school, after school, or in a probationary setting. The reach in the first four months of the grant can be found below:

 

Grant Year 1 July 1, 2020 – June 30 2021 (6 Month Planning Period, 2 Month Training Period, 4 Month Implementation)

• Adult & Child Health:
  • Marion County and Johnson County
  • In-School
  • Reach: 243
• Indiana Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs:
  • Elkhart County and Huntington County 
  • After School
  • Reach: 36
• Healthy Communities of Clinton County
  • Clinton County
  • Probationary Youth
  • Reach: 14
• Hoosier Uplands
  • Lawrence County
  • Reach: 0 (Implementation starts year 2)
• LifeSmart Youth
  • Marion County
  • In-School
  • Reach:375
• McMillen Health
  • Elkhart County, Blackford County, Fulton County, Kosciusko County, and St. Joseph County
  • In-School
  • Reach: 227

 

To facilitate better relationships with teens and their peers, families, and other trusted adults, IDOH MCH will expand its use of Parent and Teen Cafés through the same partners as the Botvin LifeSkills program. This model is from Be Strong Families that engages family members to discuss and share experiences about raising teens and young adults based on the protective factor framework. The youth cafés allow teens to empower, inform, and energize their journey to adulthood through conversation and expectations. MCH implementing partners will be providing at least 12 Parent Cafés and 12 WoWtalk Teen Cafés per year.

 

Young Adult Health

Late adolescence serves as a critical time for development in young people's lives that will lead to profound and long-lasting implications. Based on direct feedback on our needs assessment and conversations with our partners, this age group is constantly underserved but plays a key role in taking charge of their own health care. As a result, IDOH MCH created a brand-new position to cater specifically to older adolescents' needs. In June of 2021, MCH onboarded a Young Adult Health Administrator (YAHA). The YAHA's role is to identify partners who work with young adults (ages 18 – 24) and seek out places where this population typically congregates to create new partnerships and collaborate with young people to find creative solutions that will better serve and support their needs.