Touchstone Behavioral Health

Project Overview: The goal of Touchstone Behavioral Health is to reduce the teen birth rate by 0.5 percent within their service area. To reach this goal, Touchstone Health Services established the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) in 2010 to address the growing need for awareness and education on teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or diseases (STDs). Touchstone implements the curriculum Making Proud Choices (MPC) and Draw the Line/Respect the Line in the Southwest Valley. Touchstone also facilitates the Community Alliance for Resources and Education (CARE) Coalition, which is a community advisory board whose aim it is to improve adolescent health in the West Valley. The CARE Coalition and Touchstone also facilitate a youth and community member/parent council in order to provide additional support, advocacy, and guidance on programming and services. Through the CARE Coalition, Touchstone will provide a public awareness campaign to increase education on teen pregnancy and sexual health, which includes creating and distributing public service announcements, engaging in a strategic social media campaign, and organizing an annual health fair to bring resources to the community.

Target Population: Youth ages 13-19

Geographic Area Served (Urbanicity of Community): Southwest Phoenix metro area (Urban)

Teen Birth Rate in Area Served (Per 1,000): 79.2