The New York based Children's Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (CAS-Carrera) has been awarded a $3.5 million Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF) to deepen the program's impact in New York City and replicate it nationally. CAS-Carrera is one of nine recipients in a national competition that identifies innovative programs working to solve problems confronting low-income youth in America. With this investment, CAS-Carrera plans to serve approximately 10,000-11,000 young people nationally over the next three years, a growth of up to 50%.
"The Children's Aid Society is thrilled that the Carrera Program has been selected as a national leader in improving the lives of low-income youth," said President and CEO Richard Buery. "This grant will help us significantly increase the number of young people we are working with to stop early pregnancy and start them on the path to a full and productive adult life."
CAS-Carrera will also be an inaugural member of a new fund established by the EMCF called the True North Fund. This fund is the launch vehicle for an innovative public/private partnership of EMCF, SIF and institutional and individual philanthropic co-investors to generate the capital that programs with strong evidence of success need to impact greater numbers of young people and to build a stronger body of evidence about "what works" to help youth succeed in life.
Founded and led by Dr. Michael Carrera since 1984, this evidence-based pregnancy prevention model helps young people avoid becoming parents during the second decade of their lives. The holistic program combines daily academic enrichment, with weekly exposure and experience in the world of work, mental health services, family life and sexuality education, and comprehensive no-cost medical and dental services, as well as self-expression and lifetime individual sports. The medically accurate comprehensive sexuality education component contains a consistent and strong abstinence message. The program engages young people year-round, beginning in the fifth or sixth grade, and continues through graduation from high school and beyond.
CAS-Carrera Has Proven Impact
CAS-Carrera is one of the only pregnancy prevention programs in the country with top tier evidence of its effectiveness. A randomized control trial evaluation conducted over three years found that pregnancy rates among female program participants were reduced by 40% and births were reduced by 50%. The evaluation also demonstrated a multitude of other positive outcomes for both females and males, including lower rates of sexual activity, and increased rates of vaccinations and health care visits. Follow-up surveys in New York City sites showed statistically significant improvements in high school graduation and college admission rates.
Grant Will Help Expand CAS-Carrera
Over the life of this investment, CAS-Carrera will generate additional evidence of its program's effectiveness and expand the program as a national model. This grant will enable CAS-Carrera to build its organizational capacity to expand into new communities across the country, establish an Accreditation and Training Center in North Carolina, and undertake a rigorous evaluation of its program in New York City.
CAS-Carrera was chosen in an open, national competition that drew 225 applications from leading nonprofits across the country. In selecting nine organizations for awards totaling up to $42 million over three years, EMCF relied on a rigorous, in-depth due diligence process to identify a mix of programs with great potential to help larger numbers of economically disadvantaged youth, ages 9-24.
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