Youth over the age of 18 can consent themselves into the evaluation (or surveys). They will sign the “Adult participant consent” form. To access this form, select your program from the bottom menu and go to “Parental/legal guardian consent” page to find printable “Adult Participant Consent Forms” and instructions.

Emancipated youth means a minor is legally allowed to act on his or her own behalf. In this case, emancipated youth should sign the “adult youth consent” form. Please have the participant provide legal documentation, or proof, of emancipation. To access this form, select the printable “Adult Participant Consent Forms” and instructions from your program’s page on this site.

Participants without parental consent cannot take the survey. However, they can take the survey at a later date. If a participant brings the consent form back at a later date, give the participant the survey at that time. Keep in mind that all participants should have consented to participate in the program prior to the first class.

Unfortunately, there is no consent process for homeless/runaway youth. We are bound by federal regulations to have parental consent for studies that pose more than minimal risk. However, you may still allow these participants to participate in your program, but they should not take surveys or be on the attendance log. 

First, the evaluation team will compile the data and give each contractor a summary of the data at the end of the contract period. This will allow each contractor to examine the results from your community to better understand the participants you are working with. Furthermore, the surveys will be used to determine if your PREP or SRAE-funded program is achieving the desired outcomes of the federal funding. The evaluation team uses the entry and exit surveys to examine the participants' knowledge, attitude, and behaviors before and after the program. The results from the survey can show the public that this money is being used responsibly and is achieving positive outcomes for the participants. Second, PREP funding comes from the federal government through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The entry and exit surveys are a condition of that funding.

The purpose of the participant ID numbers is to ensure confidentiality of participant survey data. In the past, participants were responsible for creating their own participant ID numbers. That number is how evaluators at the University of Missouri would link the surveys to the consents. Facilitators are responsible for creating the participant ID numbers and entering them on the attendance logs and surveys. This process is outlined on the “Participant ID number” page of this website along with the evaluation guide. Participant confidentiality is extremely important, so please ensure that participant names do not appear anywhere on the surveys.

This is a delicate situation that could be handled many different ways, but here are some general tips:

• Remind the concerned parties that survey participation is voluntary and that students must have parental consent before participating in the research (entry and exit surveys).
• If you need access to school facilities and participants, inform the school administrators that this program is sponsored and funded by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and not the school. This may ease the administrators concerns about the school sponsoring what may be perceived as a controversial program.
• Inform the parents/guardians that the survey is merely a reflection of topics likely to be covered in the program. If they are uncomfortable with the content of the survey then it is possible they are uncomfortable with the content of the program.
• Lastly, talk with the parents about the program, the research, and the consent process. This will help you build a strong relationship with the parents and the community. It will also ensure the parents understand the program and the research so they can make an informed decision about whether or not this program is a good fit for their youth.

Yes, you may help the participants, but only in the following ways. First, you can read the question and response options aloud to the participants. Be careful not lead the participants to answer the question in a particular way. Second, if a participant has trouble defining certain words or concepts, you may help them define the word using the definitions below, but only define words or concepts if the participants ask; otherwise let the participants interpret things for themselves.

• Sexual intercourse (or sex): All questions on the surveys regarding sexual intercourse or sex refer to the physical act of inserting a man’s penis into a woman’s vagina (the federal programs define this as “the act that makes babies”).
  • Let the student’s interpret what sex or sexual intercourse means to them. Only share this definition if the students ask.
• Transgender: An individual who identifies as a gender other than the one they were born as. Example: A person born as a male identifies herself as a female and/or a person born as a female identifies himself as a male.
• Birth Control: An action or method to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
• Intend: Planning to do something. Example: “I intend to go to school tomorrow.”
• Abstinence (abstain): To avoid or keep from having sex—not having sex.
• HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The virus attacks and infects cells in the immune system that help the body fight infections.
• AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is the stage when HIV has damaged the immune system so that the body can no longer fight infections and cancers.
• STD: Sexually transmitted disease. Diseases that are usually transmitted through direct sexual contact.
• Ejaculation: When a male ejects semen from his penis (usually during sex).

Yes, once these participants have parent/guardian consent they should take the survey. Please make sure to add them to your attendance logs and code them as absent for the classes they were not there. Reminder, attendance is part of your fidelity score. This is something to keep in mind when admitting new participants after the program has begun. Furthermore, these programs have only been proven effective if the participant receives the full program. Be cognizant of this when admitting new participants.

After the participants have completed the surveys you should promptly mail them back to the Evaluation Team. Surveys should be sealed individually by the participant and bundled by club by the facilitator. You may keep copies of the consent forms but you may NOT keep copies of surveys. Do not staple consents to surveys as this could be a breach of confidentiality. To access mailing procedure instructions, select your program from the bottom menu and go to “Mailing procedures” page. Mail surveys and consents (not attendance logs) to the address below:

MOTPP Evaluation Team

c/o Emmie Harcourt

University of Missouri

137B Middlebush Hall 

Columbia, MO 65211

Facilitators of BART, MPC, MAD and PHAT programs are required to complete fidelity logs for each module they implement.  Meaning, we should receive a total of 8 fidelity logs if your curriculum has 8 modules, 10 fidelity logs if your curriculum has 10 modules, etc.  Facilitators of BART, MPC, MAD, and PHAT clubs must submit fidelity logs.  TOP clubs are not required to submit fidelity logs.

It is best if one facilitator completes the fidelity logs. This ensures consistent data collection. If one facilitator misses a class or is unable to complete the fidelity logs, the other facilitator may complete the fidelity log. Please be sure to use the correct class name when entering fidelity logs.

Email the Evaluation Team (MOTPPevaluation@missouri.edu) and inform them of your mistake and then retake the fidelity logs. The Evaluation Team will delete the logs you made a mistake on and keep the correct one.

Community Capacity measures your community’s ability/readiness to address teen pregnancy issues. Data collected here will be very valuable to your community and help you understand the climate for conducting teen pregnancy prevention programming.  There are three main parts to the Community Capacity Evaluation: (1) Site coordinator phone interview, (2) site coordinator online survey, and (3) stakeholder online survey.

Site coordinator phone interviews are conducted in the fall. The IPP evaluator will speak with site-coordinators and have an open-ended conversation about the community’s readiness to address teen pregnancy and increase understanding of the forthcoming stakeholder on-line survey.

Site coordinator online surveys will be conducted in the fall. Site coordinators are asked to identify a community (or communities) consisting of their service implementation area and to identify stakeholders.

The link to the online survey will be emailed to the site coordinator upon completion of the phone interview.

Aside from identifying stakeholders on the site coordinator survey, you should inform stakeholders that Evaluators from the University of Missouri will be reaching out to them and asking them to complete an online survey. The purpose of the survey is to understand the community’s perception of teen pregnancy. It is in the site coordinator’s best interest to have high stakeholder survey participation.