North Dakota State Profile Fiscal Year 2010
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Sexuality Education Law and Policy | Recent Legislation | Youth Sexual Health Data | Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative | Personal Responsibility Education Program | Title V Abstinence-Only Program | TPPI, PREP, and Title V Abstinence-Only Funding in FY 2010 | Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Education | Points of Contact | Organizations that Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education | Organizations that Oppose Comprehensive Sexuality Education | Media Outlets | References
North Dakota
In Fiscal Year 2010[1], the state of North Dakota received:
North Dakotadoes not mandate sexuality education nor does it address what can or cannot be taught in sexuality education classes. In 2008, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction published the North Dakota Health Content and Achievement Standards, which establish benchmarks for health instruction at all grade levels. For example, in grade five, students are expected to be able to “[d]escribe changes that occur during puberty.” The standards address “sexual behavior” beginning in grades seven and eight.[2]
North Dakotadoes not require parental permission for students to participate in sexuality or HIV/AIDS education nor does it say whether parents or guardians may remove their children from such classes.
Bill Institutes Specific Guidelines for Teaching about Abstinence
House Bill 1229, introduced in January 2011, mandates that schools dedicate a portion of sexual health instruction to teaching the benefits of abstinence. The bill requires “each school district and nonpublic school” to ensure that any education regarding sexual health include “instruction pertaining to the risks associated with adolescent sexual activity and the social, psychological, and physical health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity before and outside of marriage.” The bill passed the legislature and was signed into law by Governor Dalrympleon May 20, 2011. The legislation will go into effect beginning July 1, 2012.
SIECUS has compiled the following data to provide an overview of adolescent sexual health in North Dakota. The data collected represents the most current information available.
Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Data[3]
Teen Pregnancy, Birth, and Abortion
HIV and AIDS
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
The President’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI) funds medically accurate and age-appropriate programs to reduce teen pregnancy. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) implements the grant program, which totaled $110 million in discretionary funding for Fiscal Year 2010. TPPI consists of two funding tiers that provide grants to local public and private entities. Tier 1 totals $75 million and provides funding for the replication of evidence-based programs proven to prevent unintended teen pregnancy and address underlying behavioral risk factors. Tier 2 totals $25 million and provides funding to develop and test additional models and innovative strategies. A portion of the Tier 2 funds, $15.2 million, was allocated for research and demonstration grants to test innovative approaches, while the remaining funding, $9.8 million, was allocated for grants to support communitywide initiatives. TPPI also dedicates $4.5 million in funding to conduct evaluations of individual programs.
TPPI Tier 1: Evidence-Based Programs
The TPPI Tier 1 grant program supports the replication of evidence-based programs proven effective through rigorous evaluation to prevent unintended teen pregnancy, underlying behavioral risk factors, or other associated risk factors.
TPPI Tier 2: Innovative Approaches
The TPPI Tier 2 grant program supports research and demonstration programs in order to develop, replicate, refine, and test additional models and innovative strategies for preventing teenage pregnancy.
TPPI Tier 2: Communitywide Initiatives
The TPPI Tier 2 grant program also supports communitywide initiatives to reduce rates of teenage pregnancy and births in communities with the highest rates. The program awards grants to national organizations as well as state- and community-based organizations. Funded national partners provide training and technical assistance to local grantees. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implement the grant program in partnership with OAH.
The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) totals $75 million per year for Fiscal Years 2010–2014 and is the first-ever dedicated funding stream for more comprehensive approaches to sexuality education. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) implements the grant. PREP includes a $55 million state-grant program, $10 million to fund local entities through the Personal Responsibility Education Innovative Strategies (PREIS) Program, $3.5 million for Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and $6.5 million for evaluation, training, and technical assistance. Details on the state-grant program and PREIS are included below. At the time of publication, the funding for tribes and tribal organizations had not yet been awarded.
PREP State-Grant Program
The PREP state-grant program supports evidence-based programs that provide young people with medically accurate and age-appropriate information for the prevention of unintended pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The grant program totals $55 million per year and allocates funding to individual states. The grant does not require states to provide matching funds. Funded programs must discuss abstinence and contraception, and place substantial emphasis on both. Programs must also address at least three of the following adulthood preparation subjects: healthy relationships, positive adolescent development, financial literacy, parent-child communication skills, education and employment skills, and healthy life skills.
Personal Responsibility Education Innovative Strategies (PREIS)
The PREIS Program supports research and demonstration programs to develop, replicate, refine, and test innovative models for preventing unintended teen pregnancy. ACF implements the grant program in collaboration with OAH and provides a total of $10 million in funding directly to local public and private entities.
The Title V State Abstinence Education Grant Program (Title V Abstinence-Only Program) allocates $50 million per year to states for Fiscal Years 2010–2014. ACF implements the grant program. The Title V Abstinence-Only Program requires states to provide three state-raised dollars or the equivalent in services for every four federal dollars received. The state match may be provided in part or in full by local groups. All programs funded by the Title V Abstinence-Only Program must promote abstinence from sexual activity as their exclusive purpose and may provide mentoring, counseling, and adult supervision toward this end. Programs must be medically accurate and age-appropriate and must ensure abstinence is an expected outcome.
The North Dakota Department of Health implements the state’s Title V Abstinence-Only grant program, which provides funding to two local entities, Make a Sound Choice and Northern Lights Youth Services of Hillsboro, both whom are long-time recipients of the state’s abstinence-only-until-marriage funding. Both sub-grantees provide programming to youth in multiple counties throughout the state. The Department of Health has approved three curricula for use by Title V Abstinence-Only sub-grantees: A.C. Green’s Game Plan,Navigator, and Quest.
A.C. Green’s Game Plan is a well-known abstinence-only-until-marriage curriculum that relies on messages of fear and shame, inaccurate and misleading information, and biased views of marriage, sexual orientation, and family structure to convince high school students to remain abstinent until marriage. In addition, Game Plan fails to provide important information on sexual health including how students can seek testing and treatment if they suspect they may have an STD. Finally, the format and underlying biases of the curriculum do not allow for cultural, community, and individual values, and discourage critical thinking and discussions of alternate points of view in the classroom. For example, Game Plan compares sex to fire and says: “In a fireplace, fire is beautiful and gives warmth to a home. Outside of the fireplace, it can cause serious harm.” “What about sex? In a marriage relationship, sex can be beautiful. Outside of marriage, it can cause serious harm.”[17]
Navigator also relies on messages of fear and shame, inaccurate and misleading information, and biased views of marriage, sexual orientation, and pregnancy options. The curriculum fails to provide important information on sexual health; and the format and underlying biases of the curriculum dictate specific values and discourage critical thinking. For example, the authors explain, “Navigator does not promote the use of contraceptives for teens. No contraceptive device is guaranteed to prevent pregnancy. Besides, students who do not exercise self-control to remain abstinent are not likely to exercise self-control in the use of a contraceptive device.”[18]
SIECUS is not aware of any examples of model programs, policies, or best practices being implemented in North Dakota public schools that provide a more comprehensive approach to sex education for young people.
We encourage you to submit any updated or additional information on comprehensive approaches to sex education being implemented in North Dakota public schools for inclusion in future publications of the SIECUS State Profiles. Please visit SIECUS’ “Contact Us” webpage at www.siecus.org to share information. Select “state policy” as the subject heading.
Adolescent Health Contact[19]
Becky Bailey, RN, BNSC
Director
Coordinated School Health and School Nursing
Division of Family Health
North Dakota Department of Health
600 East BoulevardAvenue, Department 301
Bismarck, ND 58505
Phone: (701) 328-4526
Title V Abstinence-Only Grant Coordinator
Sandy Fetzer, RN, BSN
Director
Abstinence-Only Education Program
Division of Family Health
North Dakota Department of Health
600 East BoulevardAvenue, Department 301
Bismarck, ND 58505
Phone: (701) 328-4534
Newspapers in North Dakota[20]
Political Blogs in North Dakota
[1]This refers to the federal government’s fiscal year, which begins on October 1st and ends on September 30th. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, Fiscal Year 2010 began on October 1, 2009 and ended on September 30, 2010.
[2]North Dakota Health Content and Achievement Standards (Bismarck, ND: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, 2008), accessed 14 April 2010, <http://www.dpi.state.nd.us/standard/content/health/health2008.pdf>, 16; Ibid., 26
[3]Danice K. Eaton, et. al., “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2009,” Surveillance Summaries, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 59, no. SS-5 (4 June 2010): 98–109, accessed 4 June 2010, <http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss5905.pdf>. Note: North Dakota did not participate in the full 2009 YRBS.
[4]“Births: Final Data for 2008,” National Vital Statistics Report, vol. 59, (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, December 2010), accessed 29 June 2011, <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr59/nvsr59_01.pdf>, Table 12.
[5]“VitalStats: Birth Data Files by State, Age of Mother in Years, 2008,” (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), accessed 30 June 2011, <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstats/VitalStats_Births.htm>.
[6]U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births, and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity, (Washington, DC: Guttmacher Institute, January 2010), accessed 5 March 2010, <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf>, Table 3.1.
[7]Ibid., Table 3.2.
[8]U.S.Teenage Pregnancies, Births, and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity, Table 3.3.
[9]HIV Surveillance Report, 2008, (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 2010), accessed 28 June 2011, <http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/surveillance/resources/reports/2008report/pdf/2008SurveillanceReport.pdf>, Table 19.
[10]Ibid.
[11]Slide 9: “Rates of Diagnoses of HIV Infection among Adolescents Aged13–19 Years, 2009—40 States and 5 U.S. Dependent Areas,” HIV Surveillance in Adolescents and Young Adults, (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, July 2011), accessed 27 September 2011, <http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/slides/adolescents/index.htm>.
[12]HIV Surveillance Report, 2008, Table 20.
[13]Ibid.
[14]Slide 18: “Rates of Diagnoses of AIDS Infection among Adolescents Aged13–19 Years, 2009—40 States and 5 U.S. Dependent Areas,” HIV Surveillance in Adolescents and Young Adults, (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, July 2011), accessed 27 September 2011, <http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/slides/adolescents/index.htm>.
[15]“Wonder Database: Selected STDs by Age, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender, 1996-2008 Results,” (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 30 June 2009, accessed 5 March 2010, <http://wonder.cdc.gov>; see also Table 10: “Chlamydia: Reported Cases and Rates Per 100,000 Population by Age Group and Sex: United States, 2004–2008,” Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2008, (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of STD Prevention, November 2009), accessed 5 March 2010, <http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats08/surv2008-Complete.pdf>, 95.
[16]Ibid; see also Table 20: “Gonorrhea—Reported Cases and Rates per 100,000 Population by Age Group and Sex: United States, 2004–2008,” Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2008,106.
[17]A.C. Green’s Game Plan (Golf, IL: Project Reality, 2007). For more information, see SIECUS’ review ofA.C. Green’s Game Plan at <http://www.communityactionkit.org/curricula_reviews.html>.
[18]Need citation – was incorrect in source
[19]The person listed represents the designated personnel in the state responsible for adolescent reproductive health.
[20]This section is a list of major newspapers in the state and is by no means exhaustive of local print outlets.
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