Adolescent Health
The Adolescent Health Program at the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) works collaboratively with other state agencies and adolescent health partners to improve the health of Ohio’s adolescents. This task is accomplished through identification and assessment of health status and health risk behaviors.
The Adolescent Health Program functions as part of the School and Adolescent Health Section in the Bureau of Community Health Services and Patient-Centered Primary Care and is funded by the federal Maternal and Child Health Block Grant.
Current activities include but are not limited to:
Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) for Foster Care and Adjudicated Youth
ODH, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Department of Youth Services, proposes to reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection rates for Ohio’s youth 14-19 years of age residing in foster care and the juvenile justice systems by educating staff in those systems to become trainers in evidence-based pregnancy prevention programming.
Youth residing in foster care and/or involved with juvenile justice agencies have unique circumstances that contribute to their increased vulnerability for unplanned teen pregnancies and higher rates of sexually transmitted infections. Youth in these systems are highly mobile, often moving between group homes, foster families, detention centers and biological families. One consequence of this mobility can be irregular or interrupted school attendance impacting learning and the opportunity to obtain health information. PREP funding will provide education outside of the school day to youth on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS and on three adulthood preparation subjects to assist youth as they transition out of placement into independent living.
Ohio’s PREP grant has divided the state into nine regions. Each region is comprised of multiple counties. Click here for a map of the regions. Using a statewide, standardized train-the-trainer model, subgrantees will receive training and then will work regionally to train direct care staff who work with foster care and incarcerated youth. The evidenced-based curriculum, Reducing the Risk (RTR), serves as the foundation for the pregnancy prevention education curriculum along with the following adulthood topics incorporated into the curriculum:
- healthy relationships, such as positive self esteem and relationship dynamics, friendships, dating, romantic involvement, marriage and family interactions;
- financial literacy; and
- educational and career success, such as developing skills for employment preparation, job seeking, independent living, financial self-sufficiency and work place productivity.
This train-the-trainer model seeks to enhance professional development at the local level for direct care staff while providing sustainability for pregnancy prevention and life skills education for youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems.
Below is a listing of the counties within each region and the agency assigned to work in those counties:
Counties/Regions
Northwest - Region 1 Served by Lucas County Health Department
Counties are: Williams, Fulton, Lucas, Defiance, Henry, Wood, Paulding, Van Wert, Putnam, Hancock, Ottawa, Mercer
West Central - Region 2 Served by Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio
Counties are: Auglaize, Allen, Shelby, Darke, Miami, Champaign, Clark, Montgomery, Greene, Preble, Logan, Hardin
Southwest - Region 3 Served by Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio
Counties are: Butler, Hamilton, Warren, Clermont, Clinton, Brown
South - Region 4 Served by Planned Parenthood of Southeast Ohio
Counties are: Hocking, Ross, Vinton, Athens, Pike, Jackson, Gallia, Meigs, Scioto, Lawrence, Adams, Highland, Fayette
Southeast- Region 5 Served by Belmont County General Health District in partnership with Noble and Perry County Health Departments
Counties are: Coshocton, Muskingum, Perry, Morgan, Washington, Noble, Monroe, Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson
Northeast - Region 6 Served by Northwest Canton City Health Department
Counties are: Trumbull, Portage, Mahoning, Stark, Columbiana, Carroll, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Holmes
Lake Central – Region 7 Served by the Cuyahoga County Board of Health
Counties are: Lorain, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Ashtabula
North Central – Region 8 Served by Summit County Public Health
Counties are: Summit, Medina, Ashland, Huron, Erie, Sandusky, Seneca, Wyandot, Crawford, Marion, Richland
Central - Region 9 Served by Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Counties are: Morrow, Knox, Union, Delaware, Franklin, Pickaway, Madison, Licking, Fairfield
Sexual Health and Adoption Education Guidelines
Data to Action Planning for Adolescent Health (PowerPoint presentation)
Adolescent Health Fact Sheets
The Health of Ohio’s Adolescents: 21 Critical Indicators
The Ohio Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
Member of Ohio Suicide Prevention Team
Lights in the Darkness: Appalachian Teens Speak Out on Depression video developed in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Mental Health
Parents Are The Key to Safe Teen Drivers
ODH, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, is promoting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teen safety initiative. Nationally, teens make up just over 6 percent of all licensed drivers, but accounted for 12 percent of all drivers in fatal crashes and 14 percent of all drivers in all crashes in 2008. Teens in Ohio mirror this trend, making up the largest percentage of any age group of drivers involved in fatal crashes, as well as the largest percentage of drivers in error of any age group involved in fatal crashes on Ohio's roads in 2009. About two in three fatal crashes involving teens are due to driver error, including mistakes due to inexperience and distractions. For more information, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/ParentsAreTheKey or Ohio Highway Safety Office or http://www.distraction.gov.
Mailing Address:
Ohio Department of Health
Adolescent Health Program
246 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Telephone: 614-644-8248
Fax: 614-644-9850
E-mail: BCHS@odh.ohio.gov
Last Updated: 4/30/13
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