By THERESA HOGUE
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Saturday, September 20, 2008 12:00 am
Youth sex education program scales back
A popular sexual health community program has lost its funding and will be offered in only a limited capacity this fall.
MARS (Male Advocates for Responsible Sexuality) is an outreach program that pairs college-aged male interns with groups and individuals to talk about sexual health, abstinence and healthy relationships. The program has been a model that other counties, school districts and Oregon State University have adopted, and has provided an opportunity for young people to have their peers address questions about sexual activity and relationships.
The program was created through the Benton County Health Department in October 2000, and since 2003, has been funded by a five-year grant from the federal Office of Population Affairs. In addition to providing services to schools and community organizations, MARS also offered one-on-one individual counseling to young men with questions or concerns about sexual health.
But Tatiana Dierwechter, Health Promotions Program Manager with Benton County, said that MARS was unable to apply for renewal of its federal grant this year because the Office of Population Affairs has changed its criteria and its direction for grant funding. The federal program has a new emphasis on providing clinical services to men, which does not match with what MARS offers.
"Demonstration grants are so challenging, and there's so much competition," that even without changing the program's criteria, the grant money wasn't guaranteed, and it wasn't feasible to alter MARS's mission to fit the new requirements.
"MARS was so successful in sending a message that reproductive health is about men, too, and in making men comfortable to go to the clinic" to seek information or get tests or treatment, Dierwechter said. But because it was were not based in a clinical setting, they didn't have any hope of getting renewed grant money.
Dierwechter applied for six other grants from various sources, but was unable to secure any funding. With government budgets already tight and competition for those grants fierce, many are turning to private-sector grants, which are unable to meet the increased demand.
"We've really had no choice but to close down," Dierwechter said.
However, MARS will continue in a much more limited form as MARS Behind Bars, with two paid interns providing the same frank talk sessions to young men in the Linn-Benton Juvenile Detention Center. That opportunity has been funded by a $6,500 grant from the Oregon Department of Education.
Dierwechter's hope is that within the next six months, a change in the current administration may bring new opportunities for funding.
"Our hope is this bridge program will keep us going until we see what new policies and funding decisions are going to be, and then we'll still be in a position to pick (the entire program) back up."
Oregon State University now has its own MARS-based program which will be offered through Student Health Services, and other counties that have created their own MARS programs will be continuing to offer those services.