Abstract:
The purpose of this dissertation is to assess the demand for effectiveness of, and economic impact of Alabama's Title V funded abstinence-only sex education programs. The specific outcomes to be examined in this study are gonorrhea, Chlamydia, birth, and abortion rates among Alabama teens. The particular programs assessed in this study were created by Title V Section 510 of the Social Security Act and authorized under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The funding for Title V abstinence-only sex education programs became available from the federal government in 1998. The focus of this study is to determine what characteristics lead Alabama counties to adopt this particular type of sex education, the extent to which the decline in negative teen outcomes observed from 1998-2007 can be attributed to Title V funded abstinence-only sex education programs and the amount of public funds that were saved as a result of adopting these programs.
