Multi-Session Community Education for Youth (MSCEY) Program

Multi-Session Community Education for Youth (MSCEY) provides at-risk teens from environments outside the public school system with at least 12 hours of sexuality education over the course of a year.

The goals of the MSCEY program are to:

• increase knowledge, with a concentrated effort on abstinence, contraception, and the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections;
• expand the skills needed to make and carry out responsible sexual choices and to boost confidence in the ability to use these skills; and
• help participants adopt healthy behaviors

Effective sexuality education must do more than list facts if they are to ever really lead to healthy behavior. We feel that programs should teach by using participation and personalization, should address the peer pressures related to sexuality and sexual behavior, and last long enough to make an impact.

In addition to abstinence and contraception, our educators also cover topics such as communication skills, gender roles, diversity, dating violence, and body image. As with all of our educational programming, MSCEY topics are geared toward the age and maturity of participants. Our educators use teaching mechanisms such as role-playing, group discussion, and exercises in peer support.

Each year we successfully educate approximately 200 young men and women. Most MSCEY teens are considered at-risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection. Some have learning differences, while others have struggled with the legal system and are attending programs as mandated by the Courts. At this time, educators conduct a minimum of twelve sessions at each MSCEY site, with some sites receiving up to twenty-four sessions over the course of the school year.

This approach helps to ensure that young people leave the program better able to cope with the pressures of adolescence and more likely to put their new skills to use.