News Release
For Immediate Release: March 17, 2009
Contact Person: Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, 301-334-7730
CARE to Wait Garrett County
The Garrett County Health Department has been awarded a five year, $400,000 grant for a Dare to be You “Care to Wait” Program. The Health Department's grant is part of a larger research grant awarded to Colorado State University Extension, Dare to be You Program and sponsored by the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services.
“This grant award is the result of our prevention staff's history of implementing the Dare to be You Program with success and fidelity in Garrett County for the past 7 years,” reported Health Officer Rodney Glotfelty. “The staff has formed a close working relationship with the developers of the Dare to be You program at Colorado State University that led to our partnership on this research grant.”
Each grant year the Dare to be You “Care to Wait” program in Garrett County will be offered to two groups of 12-14 year old youth, as well as two groups of parents and youth (a family-based group) aged 12-14 years.
A family-based group is already underway in Kitzmiller, and another will begin March 19 th and continue each Thursday through June 4 th from 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Accident Elementary School . Slots are still open for this session if registration is completed by March 26 th.
Youth-only workshops are underway at Southern Middle School and in Friendsville. A meal is included at all sessions, and an incentive is awarded at the completion of the program.
Additional sessions are being scheduled to begin in the fall.
The program goals are:
• to increase family relationships, monitoring and communication
• to increase the involvement of parents in the lives of their middle school youth
• to increase adolescent's understanding of positive health and emotional benefits of abstaining from sexual activity
• to give them skills to make and carry out healthy choices and abstinence decisions
• to determine whether the family-based program has higher impact than the youth- only intervention.
For more information or to register for the program at Accident or any future programs, call the Garrett County Health Department at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-3111.