HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-SR-0012 General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GDSRAE)

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity Building Center (RHYTTAC) provides direct training and technical assistance to existing RHY award recipients and subrecipients to enhance their efforts to successfully implement FYSB-funded projects. FYSB expects to award one cooperative agreement to strengthen and build the capacity of runaway and homeless youth and other youth-serving professionals and service providers across the nation by:Developing relevant and interactive training products for in-person and virtual adaptation.Disseminating evidenced-based, evidence-informed, and best practices related to issues impacting youth who have runaway from home, youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, and youth and young adults at risk of becoming homeless.Providing targeted technical assistance to RHY award recipients and youth-serving organizations to address current and potential needs.Leading coordination activities among RHY award recipients and other RHY funded partner organizations.

The Title V Competitive SRAE program competitively funds projects to implement sexual risk avoidance education that teaches youth ages 10-19 how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. Projects must: 1) use medically accurate information referencing peer-reviewed publications by educational, scientific, governmental, or health organizations; 2) implement an evidence-based approach integrating research findings with practical strategies that align with the needs and desired outcomes for the intended audience; 3) teach the benefits associated with personal responsibility, self-regulation, goal setting, healthy decision making, and a focus on the future; 4) discourage sexual coercion, dating violence, and other youth risk behaviors such as underage drinking or illicit drug use; 5) be culturally appropriate, recognizing the experiences of youth from diverse communities, backgrounds, and experiences; 6) normalize avoiding non-marital sexual activity; and 7) be age-appropriate. This opportunity supports the development and implementation of such projects in states that do not accept FY 2026 allocations for Title V State SRAE.

Tribal PREP competitively funds projects that educate American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth ages 10-19, and expectant and parenting youth under age 21, on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV and promote successful transition of youth to adulthood through education on key adulthood preparation subjects (APS). Projects must implement at least three of the six congressionally mandated APS which include: 1) healthy relationships, 2) adolescent development, 3) financial literacy, 4) parent-child communication, 5) educational and career success, and 6) healthy life skills. Additionally, projects must 1) replicate evidence-based effective programs or substantially incorporate elements of effective programs that have been proven on the basis of rigorous scientific research to change behavior within the AI/AN tribal communities, which means delaying sexual activity, increasing condom or contraceptive use for sexually active youth, or reducing pregnancy among youth; 2) be medically-accurate and complete; 3) provide age-appropriate information and activities; and, 4) be provided in the cultural context that is most appropriate for AI/AN youth.