CDC Announces New Initiative to Help Urban Communities Prevent Teen Dating Violence
On September 13th, Vice President Biden announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded grants to four communities for its new teen dating violence prevention initiative, Dating MattersTM: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships. The funding will aid local health departments in leading their communities in developing, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive approach to prevent teen dating violence before it starts.
The grants total $7 million dollars, which is expected to cover five years of teen dating violence prevention program activities. CDC has funded four local health departments serving the cities of:
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
- Chicago, Illinois
- Oakland/Hayward, California
CDC developed the initiative to respond to the serious public health issue of teen dating violence. In a nationwide survey of students in grades 9-12, nearly one in 10 students reported being hit or physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend at least once in the past 12 months.
The roll-out of the initiative in this five-year demonstration phase will help CDC examine the cost, feasibility, sustainability, and effectiveness of a comprehensive approach to prevent teen dating violence in four high-risk urban communities. CDC also seeks to build health departments' capacity to become key agents for dating violence prevention programming though the implementation of the Dating MattersTM violence prevention strategies, which include school-based programs for middle school students, parent programs, educator training, a communications campaign, and policy change.
More information
- Learn more about CDC's Dating Matters Initiative
- Learn more about violence prevention at CDC
- Learn about Vice President's Biden Efforts to End Violence Against Women
For more information please contact DatingMatters@cdc.gov
