NEWS RELEASE

St. Paul, MN -- The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has begun work on a one-year grant to identify and evaluate teen dating violence prevention programs in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

The aim is to develop a plan to prevent teen dating violence by improving education for youth on creating healthy, respectful relationships so they can live to their full potential.

The $212,087 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention enables MDH to bring together public and private partners to identify data on the extent of teen dating violence and to review existing prevention programs.

Project staff will identify existing teen dating violence programs in a variety of organizations and agencies, survey their leadership and the youth they serve, and identify gaps in services. That information will be used to develop a plan to improve the implementation and evaluation of teen dating violence prevention programs across the state.

Primary partners in this project are the MDH Sexual Violence Prevention Program, the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition. The planning team represents these organizations plus youth organizations, schools, and other partners. A youth advisory committee also will be established.

Five other states – California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania – have received similar grants.

The project is administered by the MDH Sexual Violence Prevention Program, www.health.state.mn.us/svp, and supports the five-year strategic plan, The Promise of Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence.