Helpful Links

This Web site attempts to provide a lot of information that can help teens make the healthy choice to remain abstinent until marriage. We also want to encourage parents with tools they can use to counsel their adolescent children with age-appropriate information and to remind them that they are still the most important influence in their children’s lives.

However, there is a wealth of information about abstinence education available on the Internet and we’ve collected some of the better sources that we believe comply with the federal guidance for our abstinence education program. There are also links to government programs and other organizations that are not necessarily about abstinence but which promote marriage, the goal toward which abstinence education directs young people. Try some of the links below for additional information.

Note: The links below are to Web sites external to KDHE. Referrals to sites not produced by KDHE are for informational purposes only, and do not constitute an endorsement by KDHE or the State of Kansas of the sites' content. This list is in no way inclusive of the many educational resources available.

US Government Web Sites:

Family and Youth Services Bureau of the federal Administration for Children and Families - The mission of the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is to provide national leadership on youth and family issues. The Bureau promotes positive outcomes for children, youth, and families by supporting a wide range of comprehensive services and collaborations at the local, Tribal, State, and national levels. Under its Abstinence Education Programs, FYSB awards grants to State agencies and community-based organizations that fund abstinence education, as well as mentoring, counseling, and adult supervisory services that promote abstinence from sexual activity. The goal of the programs is to influence the youth most likely to bear children out of wedlock.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (along with the Administration for Children and Families) is one of the 13 major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is the principal agency in the United States government for protecting the health and safety of all Americans and for providing essential human services, especially for those people who are least able to help themselves. The CDC is responsible for maintaining the most current information on diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This link goes to the CDC page on STDs and is accepted by health professionals as the most accurate description of the various diseases and their treatment. For information on HIV/AIDS, click here.

National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth – The FYSB established the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY) to assist individuals seeking to support young people and their families. One section of this Web site offers information for and about young people, including ways young people can get involved in the community, ideas about how to support young people, and suggestions for academic projects related to youth service practice and policy. Another contains resources to help parents and community members help youth make the most of adolescence and a third contains information to help professionals who work with young people and their families, especially those youth growing up in difficult or disadvantaged circumstances. This Web site is not about abstinence and offers links to organizations that promote comprehensive sexuality education for teenagers. If your commitment is to abstinence until marriage, carefully analyze the information you find on or linked to the NCFY Web site.

4Parents.gov – 4Parents.gov is part of a new national public education campaign to provide parents with the information, tools and skills they need to help their teens make the healthiest choices. There is no substitute for caring parents who are involved in their children's lives. If preteens and teens are going to make the choices that will enable them to become healthy adults, they need parents to talk frankly with them about sensitive topics like sex and relationships. Parents who have been reticent to talk with their teens and preteens about these issues now have a new resource in this website. This link goes directly to the section of 4Parents.gov dealing with abstinence, sexual development and health. This Web site is not only about abstinence and offers some information that may promote comprehensive sexuality education for teenagers. If your commitment is to abstinence until marriage, carefully analyze the information you find on or linked to the 4Parents.gov Web site.

GirlsHealth.gov – This is a web site made just for girls. The mission of the Web site, developed by the Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, is to promote healthy, positive behaviors in girls between the ages of 10 and 16. The site gives girls reliable, useful information on the health issues they will face as they become young women, and tips on handling relationships with family and friends, at school and at home. There’s not really much on abstinence, but the information on relationships is very good. If your commitment is to abstinence until marriage, carefully analyze the information you find on the GirlsHealth Web site.

Fatherhood Initiative – The Department of Health and Human Services has developed a special initiative to support and strengthen the roles of fathers in families. This initiative is guided by the following principles: 1) All fathers can be important contributors to the well-being of their children; 2) Parents are partners in raising their children, even when they do not live in the same household; 3) The roles fathers play in families are diverse and related to cultural and community norms; 4) Men should receive the education and support necessary to prepare them for the responsibility of parenthood; and 5) Government can encourage and promote father involvement through its programs and through its own workforce policies. This link is included because it provides information that supports father responsibility and marriage and is valuable for teens and parents as they make or provide advice on decisions about preparation for marriage.

Healthy Marriage Initiative – The Administration for Children and Families created the Healthy Marriage Initiative to help couples, who have chosen marriage for themselves, gain greater access to marriage education services, on a voluntary basis, where they can acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to form and sustain a healthy marriage. This Initiative was first funded in 2005, but is founded in 1996 Congressional findings that marriage is the foundation of a successful society and marriage is an essential institution of a successful society which promotes the interests of children. This link is included because it provides information that supports marriage and is valuable for teens and parents as they make, or provide advice on, decisions about preparation for marriage.

Web Sites of Abstinence Education Organizations in Kansas:
The links below are to organizations in Kansas that provide education on abstinence until marriage. Some receive money under contract to the KAEP and others are funded privately or by direct federal grants.

Abstinence Education, Inc.; Wichita, KS

Catholic Charities; Kansas City, KS

Flint Hills Community Health Center, Project TEEN; Emporia, KS (covering Lyon and Chase Counties)

The Haven Center (CBAE Grantee); Kansas City, KS

Johnson County Health Department, Let’s Get Growing! and Power On; Olathe, KS

Some Other States’ Abstinence Education Web Sites:
The links below were, in part, the inspiration for KDHE to develop an abstinence education Web site for Kansas teens and parents. Check them out for information, but also for their graphics, music, and other media messages.

Florida Abstinence Education Program

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Idaho Governor’s Council on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

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Louisiana Governor’s Program on Abstinence

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Colorado Abstinence Education Program

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West Virginia Abstinence Only Education Project

Leading Research and Abstinence Advocacy Organizations:

The Medical Institute – The Medical Institute for Sexual Health is an organization that has a tremendous heart for the health and well-being of all. It is committed to teaching people how to make good choices and adopt healthy behaviors that enable them to achieve their highest potential.

The Abstinence Clearinghouse – The Abstinence Clearinghouse is a privately funded 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan international educational organization. The Clearinghouse was founded to provide a central location where character, relationship, and abstinence programs, curricula, speakers, and materials could be accessed. The Clearinghouse serves agencies on a national, state and local level, as well as international organizations.

The Institute for Youth Development – The Institute for Youth Development (IYD) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes a comprehensive message to youth in the U.S. and around the world to avoid five harmful risk behaviors that are inextricably linked: alcohol, drugs, sex, tobacco and violence. IYD believes that children and teens, provided with consistent and sound messages, are capable of making the choice to avoid these risk behaviors altogether, especially if they are empowered by strong parent and family connections. IYP also publishes a journal, Adolescent and Family Health, with peer-reviewed objective, scientific research that focuses on the common factors influencing adolescent adoption or avoidance of alcohol, drugs, sex, tobacco, and violence.

The Heritage Foundation – The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies based on, among other things, the principles of individual freedom and traditional American values. Abstinence education is one of the many topics the Foundation researches. This link takes you to their page of research articles on abstinence.

Other Organizations Supporting Abstinence, Marriage, Family and Values Education:

National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy – The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, founded in February 1996, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative with a mission to improve the well-being of children, youth, and families by reducing teen pregnancy. The National Campaign Web site has some excellent information about parent-child relationships, child development, and other topics relevant to risky sexual behavior by teens. However, the National Campaign, with its focus on preventing teen pregnancy, promotes comprehensive or abstinence-plus sexuality education. If your commitment is to abstinence until marriage, carefully analyze the information you find on or linked to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Web site.

WAIT Training – offers a two day certification training for abstinence until marriage programs. The curriculum includes character and relationship education, youth development, marriage preparation education, life and conflict resolution skills, and fun interactive lessons for middle and high school students. The curriculum is age appropriate, researched based, medically accurate, and culturally sensitive. There are other programs available including Basic Training for 4th to 6th graders, a Latino program, Parent workshops and much more.

Choosing the Best – is a leading provider of abstinence sex education curricula, training, and resources. Research based, Choosing the Best programs are committed to being medically accurate, providing the latest medical information, and is approved by a team of medical experts that comprise the Choosing the Best Medical Advisory Board. Choosing the Best materials foster a dynamic learning environment to engage students, teach relationship education and refusal skills, promote character education, and encourage parent involvement. Choosing the Best offers five age appropriate abstinence education programs for both middle and high school students.

Family First – The mission of Family First is to strengthen the family by establishing family as a top priority in people's lives and by promoting principles for building marriages and raising children. Their Web site is loaded with great information including free online brochures, articles, tips and suggestions on marriage, parenting and family relationships. This link is included because it provides information that supports marriage and is valuable for teens and parents as they make or provide advice on decisions about preparation for marriage.

Smart Marriages – The Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education is an interest group whose members are convinced that family breakdown can be reduced through education and information. The only membership requirement is an interest in in strengthening marriages and families. If you are interested, you are a member. The Coalition serves as a clearinghouse to help people find the information they need to strengthen marriages and families - their own or those in their community. This link is included because it provides information that supports marriage and is valuable for teens and parents as they make or provide advice on decisions about preparation for marriage.

Motherhood Project – The mission of the Motherhood Project is to help put motherhood on the national agenda and foster a renewed sense of purpose, passion and power in the vocation of mothering in both the private and public spheres. The Project’s goals are to move the public discourse about motherhood forward to promote a deeper appreciation of the contributions mothers make to children and society and bring fresh knowledge to bear to help mothers meet the unprecedented challenges of mothering in the 21st century. The Project is working to promote a “mothers’ renaissance” – a resurgence in thinking, and discussion by and about mothers and mothering, who mothers are, what they do, what they need, their importance to children, families, and society, and their potential role as catalysts for cultural and social change for the benefit of children and families. This link is included here to offer parents and older teens with information on the importance of the role of mothers in our culture and to healthy families.

The Modesty Zone – This Web site, “for good girls in hiding, everywhere,” is an informal community of young women who don’t have a voice in the mainstream media. It is a place where young women “can find a safe harbor here to share your ideals, interests, and goals for the future.” Check it out and especially the “Contribution” titled 18 Cheers for Marriage: Why and How. This link is provided because it addresses the critical issue of media messages that are sometimes detrimental to the message of abstinence as preparation for marriage.

Parents Television Council – The Parents Television Council (PTC) was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media. It is a national grassroots organization with nearly one million members across the United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters, networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted to children. The PTC is a nonpartisan organization that works with elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex, violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices for their own families. This link is provided because it addresses the critical issue of media messages that are sometimes detrimental to the message of abstinence as preparation for marriage.

we-matter – we-matter© is an online campaign designed to help teens realize and achieve whole-person health. Society primarily focuses on the importance of physical health (healthy diet and exercise while avoiding drugs, smoking and sexually transmitted diseases). But the we-matter© campaign believes that total well-being depends on being "healthy" in all areas of life: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and social. This is a great site for teens, but has good information for parents and teachers as well.