The Teen Outreach Program PDF Download

This report describes the methods and results of the evaluation of the TOP® program as implemented in Hennepin County. The evaluation included two studies: (1) the impact of offering TOP® to middle- and high school-aged youth (the impact study) and (2) the context, implementation fidelity, and challenges faced in implementing the program (the implementation study). Prior to this evaluation, the primary evidence of TOP®'s effectiveness was based on one randomized controlled trial conducted between 1991 and 1995 with 695 teens in 25 high schools across the United States (Allen, Philliber, Herrling & Kuperminc, 1997). The program took place in a mix of in-school and after-school settings, and the youth sample was predominantly female (85%) and African American (67%), with an average age of 15.8 years. The subgroup of adolescent girls participating in the program was significantly less likely than the control group to report a pregnancy during the academic year of the nine-month program; no effects were found for boys (contributing to a pregnancy). The study was not designed to analyze whether this effect was sustained beyond the immediate post-test nor did it include sexual risk-taking behavior outcomes. The study met the HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review criteria for a high study rating, indicating that it was a well-implemented randomized controlled trial based on the evidence review standards in place in 2010 (Mathematica Policy Research & Child Trends, 2010; Goesling, Colman, Trenholm, Terzian & Moore, 2014).