Introduction
Research Questions
- How did grant recipients operate and support PREP programs?
- What were the characteristics of PREP programs?
- Whom did PREP programs serve?
- How did youth respond to the PREP programs?
The goal of the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) are to educate adolescents on (1) both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and (2) adulthood preparation subjects. PREP is administered by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
All PREP grant recipients are required to submit performance measures data to FYSB. The data provide systematic information about program operations and outcomes for all PREP grant recipients, their provider organizations, the programs they operate, and the youth they serve. The performance measures help answer three research questions:
- How did grant recipients operate and support PREP programs?
- What were the characteristics of PREP programs?
- Whom did PREP programs serve?
- How did youth respond to the PREP programs?
Purpose
This fact sheet summarizes findings based on performance measures submitted by PREP grant recipients for 2023—2024.
Key Findings and Highlights
- In 2023—2024 PREP funded 95 grant recipients and 346 program providers. Providers operated 449 programs with 1,342 facilitators and served 94,046 youth during the period.
- The program models that served the most youth were Making Proud Choices!, Love Notes, and Draw the Line/Respect the Line.
- PREP grant recipients must address at least three of six adulthood preparation subjects (APSs). Programs most commonly addressed healthy relationships, healthy life skills, and adolescent development.
- Most participants (82 percent) attended PREP programming during the school day.
- More than three-quarters of youth participants completed at least 75 percent of the intended programming hours.
- Less than one-third of high school—aged and older youth reported having ever had sex before starting PREP programming.
- At program exit, more than half of high school—aged and older youth planned to abstain from sex for at least the next three months as a result of participating in PREP.
- At program exit, most youth reported positive perceptions of the PREP programs.
Methods
This fact sheet is based on measures PREP grant recipients submitted for 2023—2024. Grant recipients submit data on PREP performance measures at four levels: (1) grant recipient, (2) provider, (3) program, and (4) participant. Participant-level data are collected from surveys administered to individual youth at program entry and exit. Analyses in this fact sheet are based on combined findings across grant recipients, providers, programs, and participants.
Grant recipients use a web-based system to submit performance measures to FYSB. Performance measures on structure, cost, and support for program implementation are submitted annually. Other measures—such as attendance, reach, and dosage, and measures of youth participants’ characteristics and experiences in PREP—are submitted twice a year.
Citation
Hulsey, Lara, Tressa Stapleton, and Sam Bonelli (2025). PREP Performance Measures Fact Sheet: 2023-2024). OPRE Report #2025-088, Washington DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- PREP:
- Personal Responsibility Education Program
- FYSB:
- Family and Youth Services Bureau
- APS topics:
- Adulthood Preparation Subject. PREP grant recipients were required to incorporate activities related to at least three of the six (1) healthy relationships, (2) adolescent development, (3) healthy life skills, (4) parent-child communication, (5) educational and career success, and (6) financial literacy.
- STI:
- Sexually transmitted infection