As the Prince George’s County Health Department slices a $25,000 abstinence-education program, a new nonprofit has formed to more than fill the void, backed by $600,000 in federal grants.
The county had previously used a $25,000 share of anavailable $500,000 in-state funding at a county-run clinic to teach young men the virtues of not having sex until marriage, but that sum was cut in 2008, according to budget documents and Yvette McEchern, program manager for the state abstinence education program.
The county’s schools teach abstinence as a component of the sex-ed curriculum, schools spokesman John White said.
But in-school abstinence education “receives little more than honorable mention,” said Zalee Harris, executive director of the community-based abstinence education program “I have standards!” Harris opened the doors to “I have standards!” in January with the promise of $600,000 in federal funding for each of the next five years. The program is based in both Prince George’s County and Baltimore City.
Zalee said the cash was enough to reach all of the county’s roughly 65,000 teens who attend public school, and she’s interested in working with the schools to train teachers in the curriculum “I have standards!” is using in its own programs. About 200 students ages 12 to 18 have passed through the program so far, and she said she expected 400 by July.
“I can’t believe they did that,” Zalee said when she heard the county had cut its small, non-school-based abstinence-education program. “In a time when you can’t pick up the paper without reading the latest [Centers for Disease Control] report that one in four teens have sexually transmitted diseases and 34 percent of people between 12 and 25 have AIDS or are HIV positive … when promiscuity has run amok. Abstinence is what you cut, when abstinence is the solution? I don’t understand what they think is the solution.”
County officials could not be reached for comment. According to budget documents, the county had planned to fund its program in 2008, but McEchern said the county never applied for the state funding, and budget documents show none of the $25,000 planned for 2008 was spent.
