The Power to Decide

On February 8th, our Executive Director, Candice Maze, teamed up with JeNeen Anderson and Sarah Ashley Jolly of Power to Decide (formerly The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy) to train attorneys, judges, case managers, GALs and other child welfare and juvenile justice stakeholders in Broward County about the importance of more meaningfully addressing the sexual health and well-being of girls, teens and young women in the child welfare system. Power to Decide is a national organization that increases information, access and opportunity in order to ensure that all young people have the power to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant.

In 2015, Power to Decide, in collaboration with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, developed “When You Decide…” A Judges Guide to Pregnancy Prevention Among Foster Youth. The guide is filled with resources, tools, scripts, and statistics. One of the tools is a judicial benchcard, which was piloted in Miami-Dade County. In fact, in our circuit, FFCR’s Citizen Review Panel Program has implemented the benchcard and asks a series of “teen health” questions during our review hearings for all youth 13 and older.

Power to Decide provides training and technical assistance to select jurisdictions seeking to implement the benchcard and works with these communities to create a system-wide pregnancy prevention/teen sexual health action plan. FFCR is honored to work with Power to Decide to assist with training and implementation of the benchcard in these select sites to promote the sexual health and well-being of all young people in the foster care system.