Engaging Young Men in Preventing Premature Fatherhood

The CDC Division of Reproductive Health engaged JSI to assist in the Engaging Young Men in Clinical Services to Prevent Premature Fatherhood (EYM) project. The first four years of the grant focused on improving reproductive health services for young men, ages 15-19, in Gaston, NC. JSI partnered with health center partners Gaston Family Health Services (GFHS) and Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services (GHHS) to reduce premature fatherhood by maximizing opportunities to provide reproductive health services to young males by improving access and linkages to reproductive health services in health care provider settings.

Strategies focused on maximizing opportunities to provide improved reproductive health services to men already accessing clinical services [already in the door] and increasing the number of men accessing these clinical services [getting them through the door].

For the final project year, the partners focused on the design and piloting of a training and toolkit (attached below) for youth-serving professionals that interact with young men, ages 15-24, in order to expand the reach of the pilot. The focus of the training and toolkit was on how to support trusted adults such as coaches, primary care providers, or mental health providers to inform young men about the importance of reproductive health and refer young men to reproductive health services.