The Buell Foundation funds proven, comprehensive, medically accurate teen pregnancy prevention programs. The Foundation will not fund abstinence-only programs.
Comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention programs must:
- Be facilitated by trained and experienced professionals, ideally by someone who has been prepared to facilitate sexual health education programs and/or a curriculum
- Emphasize the importance of delaying sex
- Instruct about the benefits and risks of condoms and contraception when engaging in sex
- Impart information about sexual activity and the use of condoms and contraception that is deemed medically accurate by sources on which medical professionals rely
- Provide education about consent and refusal skills
- Occur in a safe, confidential, and non-judgmental learning environment for all youth
- Be inclusive of the cultures, values, sexual orientation, and gender identity of youth participating in the program
- Assess the effectiveness of the programs on the skills, knowledge, and attitudes or behavior change of the participants
Other considerations:
- If adapting an evidence-based program, organizations must ensure that the intent of the program is not compromised and that the same skills, knowledge, and attitudes or behaviors are evaluated.
- When an option, programs should link students to clinical and medical providers and services.
If you have any questions about the types of programs that we fund, please call the Program Officer for your region.