A five-year effort between the Hamilton YWCA and Miami University Hamilton has been providing a teenage pregnancy prevention program to hundreds of young women in four counties.

FOCUS, an eight-hour program for young women ages 16-19, teaches building responsible and healthy behaviors, improving communication skills, and preventing unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, according to YWCA Community Educator Sarah Kinley.

The program began in March, 2011, made possible by a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health, according to Brooke Flinders, assistant professor of nursing at Miami University Hamilton.

Flinders said she had been looking for community partners to help nursing students get experience and to qualify for the service learning requirements of the university.

“We served 108 females in the first three active months of the program, 485 in the first full year of the program’s implementation, and 254 at the last count in January,” Flinders said. “We’re on target this year to reach over 700 teens. We have the capability to continue serving over 700 teens per year throughout the funding period.”

The course is taught by Miami University third-year nursing students with YWCA community educators, she said.

“The desired outcome is to empower young women to be bold, strong and assertive about the rights they have concerning their sexual health,” Kinley said. “There is no cost to participate, and each participant will receive a $50 gift card as compensation for time spent.”

Participants will be asked to complete two follow-up surveys over a one-year period, and will receive an additional $50 gift card for each completed and returned survey.

Programs are offered in Butler, Warren, Hamilton and Montgomery counties.

The next session will be held March 9 and March 30 at Fairfield Lane Library. Participants must attend both sessions to receive the gift card, and parental consent is required for participants younger than 18, Kinley said.

To register, email skinley@ywcahamilton.com or call 513-856-9800, ext. 226.

For more information about the program, visit www.focusonsexualhealth.org or call 513-856-9800.