For Immediate Release                                                       Contact: Morgan Marshall

October 19, 2011                                                                  (202) 265-2405 / mmarshall@siecus.org   

 

Fiscal Year 2010 SIECUS State Profiles Highlights Shifting Momentum

from Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs to More Comprehensive Approaches

 

Washington, DC – Today, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) releases the eighth edition of the SIECUS State Profiles: A Portrait of Sexuality Education and Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in the States. This Fiscal Year 2010 Edition continues to serve as the most in-depth resource for advocates, educators, policymakers, public health professionals, parents, youth, and community stakeholders across the country who are working to advance more comprehensive approaches to sexuality education and eliminate harmful abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. SIECUS State Profiles Fiscal Year 2010 Edition includes an individual profilefor all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the other U.S. Territories. Our in-depth research allows us to provide detailed information on each state as well as thoughtful analysis on the overall trends at both the federal and state levels. 

 

“After over 45 years advocating for the rights of all people to accurate information about sexuality and sexual health, with a focus on comprehensive education about sexuality and sexual health services, SIECUS delivers this Fiscal Year 2010 edition of our State Profiles with a renewed mission focused on the nexus of policy and implementation,” said Monica Rodriguez, president and CEO of SIECUS. “This edition of the SIECUS State Profiles is designed to help advocates and educators across the country build on our successes and institutionalize the investment and policies that are being implemented to support comprehensive sexuality education.  They also document the continued trend of efforts towards eliminating all federal and state policies and funding for failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.”

 

This edition of the SIECUS State Profiles illustrates the significant progress advocates and educators have been making in sexuality education law, policy, and implementation.  The Obama administration and Congress began, in Fiscal Year 2010, to usher in a new era of sex education in this country, eliminating two-thirds of federal funding dedicated to ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and providing funding for initiatives that support evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention and more comprehensive approaches to sex education that totals nearly $190 million. This year’s edition continues our tradition of “following the money;” however, for the first time, the SIECUS State Profiles track not only federal abstinence-only-until-marriage funding but also federal funding for more comprehensive approaches to sex education, detailing funding streams, grantees, and funded programs. This year, we also continue to identify examples of model programs, policies, and best practices being implemented in public schools across the country that provide more comprehensive approaches to sex education.

 

We continue to see significant leadership at the state and local levels in advancing sexuality education policy and implementation. “States and cities around the country are continuing the trend of jettisoning the failed policy of abstinence-only-until-marriage in favor of more comprehensive approaches while others continue to push the boundaries in the effort to reach all young people with comprehensive sexuality education,” said Rodriguez. “Fiscal Year 2010 represented when advocates for comprehensive sexuality education finally began to see, and began to build upon, the fruits of our labor. This Fiscal Year 2010 Edition reflects that in many states and communities, new federal funding is allowing implementation of more comprehensive approaches to sex education for the first time.  While in others, states and individual entities are using the funds to expand their already successful programming—reaching even more young people with the information and education they need to make responsible and healthy decisions about their sexual health.”

 

“We hope this new edition of the SIECUS State Profiles willempower individuals and organizations to expand or develop their own advocacy efforts related to comprehensive sexuality education and evidence-based prevention programs and will provide the information advocates need to continue to learn from and strategize with each other, building off of best practices and models of success,” concluded Rodriguez.

 

Click here to access the full State Profiles

If you have questions or would like to schedule an interview with SIECUS’ President and CEO Monica Rodriguez, please contact Morgan Marshall at mmarshall@siecus.org or (202) 265-2405.

  

 

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SIECUS affirms that sexuality is a fundamental part of being human, one that is worthy of dignity and respect. We advocate for the right of all people to accurate information, comprehensive education about sexuality, and sexual health services. SIECUS works to create a world that ensures

social justice and sexual rights.