Strengthening state health and state education agency partnerships to prevent HIV, STD, and teen pregnancy in school-age youth: The National Stakeholders Collaborative

The National Stakeholders Collaborative (NSC) based in Washington, DC is comprised of four national organizations: the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors; the National Coalition of STD Directors; the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs; and the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Since 2003, the NSC has conducted National Stakeholders Meetings (NSM) to assist state health and state education agencies in improving collaboration, communication, and coordination for integrating HIV, STD, and teen pregnancy prevention education in schools. In most states, HIV, STD, and teen pregnancy prevention efforts targeting youth are already in progress and have been for many years. However, the existence of multiple programs presents a challenge for collaboration and coordination. State funding for these programs often has different target populations, program requirements, and limited flexibility in use of funds. This presentation will provide the rationale for state agency collaboration to integrate HIV, STD, and pregnancy prevention education programs for school age-youth, including real-life challenges that hinder these collaborations and solutions to overcoming them. Examples to strengthen state health and state education agency collaboration through the National Stakeholder Meeting and action planning process will be described, including the identification of technical assistance needs and ways in which they were addressed. Experiences from states offering promising strategies for the establishment of viable, long-lasting relationships to strengthen health and education agency collaborations will also be presented. In addition, evaluation results for the NSMs will be highlighted.