Healthy Girls is the signature project of United Way of Greater Milwaukee's Women's Initiative and is an important option for every United Way donor. The funded programs respond to one of two issue areas identified as impediments to good health and well being of girls in our community: teen pregnancy and sexual violence against girls.

All funded programs are required to use evidence-based programming to respond to the critical issues of teen pregnancy and sexual violence against girls, and United Way believes that evidence-based programs have the greatest chance for success.

Individual Program Outcomes:

• 74% of participants set and achieved personal goals.
• 92% of participants were more knowledgeable about what constitutes sexual violence and learned prevention strategies.
• 95% of participants demonstrated an increased knowledge in identifying forms of dating abuse and sexual abuse, recognizing warning signs of abusive relationships and knowing resources to assist family and peers.
• 95% of participants demonstrated knowledge in ending a relationship safely and in the rights and responsibilities in healthy relationships.
• 88% of students know at least two sexual assault risk reduction tips.
• 93% of students know at least two dangerous situations to avoid in dating relationships.
• 90% of group participants felt less shame and guilt about their own sexual abuse because they appropriately expressed feelings regarding their sexual abuse.
• 75% of participants in the social development program indicated they attended school everyday compared to 44% of those who did not attend program.
• 31% of participants earned a 3.0 or higher compared to 13% of non-participants.
• 94% of participants reported no alcohol use in the last two months compared to 67% of non-participants.

2007 - 2008 Healthy Girls Funded Programs

Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, SMART Girls and Passport to Manhood
The SMART Girls program will address the issue of sexual violence against girls in Milwaukee.  SMART Girls will serve approximately 150 girls, in small group settings, utilizing a combination of informational and experiential learning activities to help female Club members learn about sexual violence and prevention strategies and develop healthy attitudes and lifestyles.

Passport to Manhood is a curriculum for adolescent boys that addresses several key areas of development while stressing and promoting positive values and behaviors.  Passport consists of 14 sessions, each of which concentrates on a specific aspect of manhood, including showing respect towards women and girls – 50 boys will be served by this program.

COA, Healthy Relationships, Healthy Futures
Healthy relationships, Healthy Futures will deliver comprehensive sexual violence prevention programming to children and teens in a variety of settings.  This program is a partnership with Illusion Theater of Minneapolis and Milwaukee Public Theatre, and will utilize theater to teach young people about sexual violence and healthy relationships. COA hopes to reach 400 boys and girls between the ages of 7, 18, using age-appropriate content.

The Counseling Center, Hand-in-Hand
Hand-in-Hand will use the evidence-based Sexual Assault Risk Reduction (SARR) curriculum in Milwaukee area middle and high schools, while also providing child and adolescent treatment groups.  Hand-in-Hand will continue to serve young survivors of sexual abuse, but will expand its programming to include outreach to the community-at-large.  The program aims to reach 800 youth through a variety of methods including “classroom” instruction, speakers, and outreach activities.

The Healing Center, Great Girls, Great Women
The Healing Center will partner with Task Force on Family Violence and Walker’s Point youth and Family Center to implement a project aimed at reducing sexual victimization among high risk girls.  This project will increase mother-child communication about sexual violence and increase youth protective factors for a minimum of 50 at-risk girls and their mothers or caregivers.  It is anticipated that the majority of girls served will share social characteristics identified in “If Truth Be Told. . .” that place them at a higher risk for sexual victimization and teen pregnancy.  Activities will include mother/daughter retreats, 6 week support groups for girls and women, individualized follow-up, and an annual graduation event.

Meta House, Teen Pregnancy and Violence Prevention Program
Meta House, Milwaukee’s largest provider of substance abuse treatment and supportive services to women with children, will provide pregnancy and sexual violence prevention education to a high-risk population: children of women with substance abuse disorders.  Using two evidence-based programs, Safe Dates and B.A.R.T, Meta House will serve 35 youth and their female caregivers.

Milwaukee Health Department, PLAIN Talk
In its 2nd year of operation, the Plain Talk Initiative will continue a community-based approach to help parents and other adults develop the skills and tools they need to communicate effectively with their children and other young people about abstinence, healthy relationships, and sexual concerns and behaviors.  This phase of the project will focus specifically on boosting the saturation of the community intervention (Home Health Parties), increasing contraceptive care to teens (access), a qualitative assessment of the reproductive health needs of Hmong residents, and community mapping in Metcalfe Park.

New Concept Self Development Center, Inc.,  Let’s Talk About It!
New Concepts will implement the evidence-based Safe Dates curriculum, supplemented by a two-session internet safety program.  Initially, the program will serve twenty mother (or female caregiver)/daughter dyads, who will in turn be trained as facilitators of future groups.  Additional program activities will include overnight retreats and a community rally to raise awareness re: the issue of sexual violence against teens. 

The Parenting Network, RELATE + Images  
The Parenting Network’s RELATE Project is a program whose aim is to eliminate sexual violence against girls.  The program will be implemented with 200 high school students in at least seven high schools setting in one-hour sessions over a five-week period.  The gendered-specific groups will be facilitated by Peer Educators who are a year or more older than the participants.  The Parenting Network will partner with a number of public and private high schools in Milwaukee to deliver the program.  Through a combination of educational presentations, discussions, activities, and surveys, the RELATE Project helps participants examine core beliefs, attitudes and influences that contribute to sexual violence.  This year, they are adding a media education component to the curriculum.

United Community Center, Teen Outreach Program (TOP) and All Stars
The United Community Center  (UCC) will implement TOP to encourage volunteer community service and positive youth development, and discourage teen pregnancy.  This community-based program will target 25 at-risk Hispanic high school students that reside on Milwaukee’s south side, while the age-appropriate All Stars program will reach approximately 200 after-school and summer-school youth participants in middle school grades.

Healthy Girls Allocation Committee

United Way’s Healthy Girls Allocation Committee based funding recommendations on the merit of program design, evidence-based methodology, proposed outcomes, and organizational capacity. Thanks to these dedicated committee members for their work throughout the allocations process.

• Joy Appel, Jewish Family Services
• Laura Bray Co-Chair, Executive Director Menomonee Valley Partners
• Janice Cummings, Regional Chief, Milwaukee County Department of Corrections
• Sandra Cunningham, Director, Information Technology, Johnson Controls
• Sheri L. Johnson, Ph.D, Administrator and State Health Officer, Division of PublicHealth
• Mira Ketzler, Aurora Women's Pavillion
• Megan A. Madigan, RBC Wealth Management
• Ellen Redecker, The PrivtateBank
• Gwat-Yong Lie, Associate Professor of Social Welfare, UW-Milwaukee
• Candy Pindyck, Community Volunteer/Attorney at Law
• Diane Rondini-Harness, Assistant State Public Defender

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative through Healthy Girls is sponsored by Aurora Health Care through the Healthy Girls Challenge Grant