The role of policy advocacy in assuring comprehensive family life education in California.
As part of their 10-year $60 million Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, The California Wellness Foundation funded 18 state and local organizations to conduct policy advocacy to strengthen teen pregnancy prevention policies. This article describes how some of these grantees accomplished noteworthy goals, including the passage of the California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education Act (SB71), the prevention of the state's pursuit of federal "abstinence-only-until-marriage" funding, and the passage of a local school district FLE policy. Grantee progress is presented through a five-stage policy change framework: Institutional Capacity and Leadership Building, Policy Issue Recognition, Policy Prioritization, Policy Adoption, and Policy Maintenance. Implications are shared for advocates, policy makers, and funders who are developing initiatives aimed at improving the health of adolescents.
Brindis
Claire D
CD
Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy and the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
Geierstanger
Sara P
SP
Faxio
Adrienne
A
D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California; D003254:Consumer Advocacy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011640:Public Policy; D012736:Sex Education / Q000458:organization & administration*