The initial findings from a one-year followup of 2,310 students participating in an evaluation of four abstinence-only education programs show that youth who participated in the programs were more supportive of abstinence than those who were not exposed to the programs. The evidence on whether...

This paper examines the impacts of four abstinence-only education programs on adolescent sexual activity and risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Based on an experimental design, the impact analysis uses survey data collected in 2005 and early 2006 from more than 2,000...

Explores why states differ in their Medicaid coverage of the at-risk population, focusing on large disparities in Medicaid spending. To help address these disparities, suggests reconfiguring the federal matching formula for Medicaid so it accounts for the need for public coverage in each state,...

This systematic review provides a comprehensive, updated assessment of programs with evidence of effectiveness in reducing teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), or associated sexual risk behaviors. A total of 88 studies conducted since the late 1980s met the review criteria for...

This piece describes Mathematica’s abstinence education evaluation, provides interviews with the evaluation’s two lead authors (Trenholm and Devaney), and offers reflections on the study.

This comprehensive study found that Santa Clara County’s Healthy Kids program--a health insurance program for children in low and middle income families--is closing a major gap in health care for county children. Since it was launched in 2001, Healthy Kids has insured over 25,000 children in...

The Santa Clara County Children’s Health Initiative is an innovative effort to expand low-income children’s health insurance in this California county. This issue brief describes changes in children's medical care and other outcomes during the most recent three years that they had stable...

The Santa Clara County Children’s Health Initiative (CHI), launched in January 2001, seeks to extend health coverage to all uninsured children in that California county. This issue brief measures the effect of the initiative on enrollment in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, the two major state...

This paper presents findings from an ongoing systematic review of research on teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection prevention programs, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help support evidence-based approaches to teen pregnancy prevention. A total of 88...