The Working with Diverse Communities (WDC) Component, directed by JSI Research & Training Institute, works with CDC Teen Pregnancy Prevention Part A Grantees to build their capacity to engage and serve diverse youth and youth in at-risk situations through teen pregnancy prevention programs and social services that foster reproductive health equity. Because where youth live, learn, work, and play influences sexual and reproductive health behaviors, JSI assists grantees in raising awareness among community partners about the social determinants that have an impact on teen pregnancy and in creating feasible strategies to address them. This context, paired with evidence-based interventions that teach youth about pregnancy prevention, offers a holistic approach that actively engages communities in a process that supports and promotes positive youth development and healthy relationships and lifestyles. JSI supports grantees in using data-driven strategies and best practices to work with their diverse communities. The WDC component focuses on building grantees’ capacity to:
- Engage and recruit a diverse group of community partners, including those not typically engaged in the target community, to collaborate in teen pregnancy prevention efforts.
- Identify and implement best practices that address the social determinants of teen pregnancy among diverse youth.
- Ensure that prevention efforts are inclusive of both male and female youth.
- Ensure that clinical providers provide culturally competent and adolescent-centered clinical reproductive health services, assess appropriately for social determinants, and link youth to needed social services.
- Identify and educate a diverse group of community stakeholders on strategies that have an impact on teen pregnancy prevention and related social determinants.
About JSI
John Snow, Inc., and our nonprofit JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., are public health management consulting and research organizations dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities throughout the world.
For more than 30 years, Boston-based JSI and our affiliates have provided high-quality technical and managerial assistance to public health programs worldwide. JSI has implemented projects in 106 countries, and currently operates from eight U.S. and 81 international offices, with more than 500 U.S.-based professionals and 1,600 host country staff.
JSI is deeply committed to improving the health of individuals and communities worldwide. We work in partnership with governments, organizations, and host-country experts to improve quality, access and equity of health systems. We collaborate with government agencies, the private sector, and local nonprofit and civil society organizations to achieve change in communities and health systems.
