Strategies & Programs

What We Do

The Alliance pursues three interrelated strategies to meet our mission:

Public Policy:

Educating and motivating federal, state, and local policymakers and the public to develop responsible public policies that recognize the needs and abilities of young people to make responsible decisions about relationships, sex, parenting, and life.

Promoting Best Practices:

Working with youth-serving professionals, educators, health care workers, and others on the front line to provide them with information, technical assistance, and training about what works in teen pregnancy prevention and with teen parent families.

Youth Empowerment:

Developing young people’s leadership skills, empowering them to educate themselves and each other, so they can advocate for effective teen pregnancy prevention and teen parent services.

Special Initiatives:

Youth First:

 Testing the effectiveness of a community-wide approach to reducing teen pregnancy in Holyoke and Springfield by increasing youth access to quality, culturally appropriate sexual health information and evidence-based programs, increasing youth access to sexual health clinical services, increasing community awareness of teen pregnancy, and building sustainability of the community-wide effort. 

Partners in Prevention:

Increasing the number of Massachusetts youth reached by effective teen pregnancy prevention in schools, community-based organizations, and health care settings through intensive partnerships with community stakeholders.

Promise Project:

Working to increase the number of teen parents who complete high school or GED and pursue higher education by engaging young parents in research, advocacy, and organizing on policies that impact parenting teens in reaching their educational goals.

Young Parent Policy Fellows:

A group of dedicated young parents committed to strengthening leadership skills towards the end of advocating for expecting and parenting teens. Through efforts related to public policy and programming, the YPPF also serves as a voice within the Alliance informing its’ initiatives.

Latino Initiative:

Engaging Latino leaders and youth in addressing high rates of teen pregnancy among Latino teens by developing an in-depth analysis of current data and research and mobilizing communities to take action.

Benefits Access Project (BAP):

A toll-free helpline that provides expert information for teens, their families, and providers on accessing public benefits, finding community services, and knowing their rights and responsibilities.