Policy and Planning

The AFL Program funds demonstration projects to address adolescent pregnancy prevention. The intent of the program is to reduce teen pregnancies by encouraging abstinence until marriage and to lessen the effects of too early child bearing by providing comprehensive services to pregnant and parenting adolescents and their families. In order to demonstrate more effective program results, the program has developed several performance measures. These performance measures help to focus the priorities of the program and the grantees and will be tracked over the next several years.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)

In Spring 2004, the AFL program participated in the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) process. The PART process included an in depth examination of the OAPP and its programs. At the time of the assessment, the AFL program received a Results Not Demonstrated score primarily based on the lack of measurable performance goals. Based on the feedback from PART, the program has implemented several changes and improvements in its management and its programs. A major finding from PART was the lack of specific performance measures to demonstrate improvements over time. The program has since developed six long term performance measures and one efficiency measure to better demonstrate program effectiveness. The AFL program plans to be reassessed through PART in 2008.

Performance measures:

• Increase communication among parents and adolescents on topics relating to puberty, pregnancy, abstinence, alcohol, and/or drugs.
• Increase adolescents' understanding of the positive health and emotional benefits of abstaining from premarital sexual activity.
• Maintain the incidence of clients in AFL Care demonstration projects who do not have a repeat pregnancy.
• Increase infant immunization among clients in AFL Care demonstration projects.
• Increase the educational attainment of clients in AFL Care demonstration projects.
• Improve the quality of the Title XX independent evaluations.

Efficiency measure:

• Sustain the cost to encounter ratio in Title XX prevention and care demonstration projects.

For up to date information on baselines and targets for each of these measures, please visit PART Web: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/summary/10002178.2008.html