HISTORY
... develop a new approach, one that would help young people develop not only the capacity to avoid mistakes, but the desire to do so.
In 1970, the Children's Aid Society (CAS) began offering sexuality education workshops for teens, parents and staff at four CAS centers (Dunlevy Milbank, East Harlem, Frederick Douglass and Rhinelander). Soon, it became clear to CAS educators that sexuality education alone wasn't enough to effectively influence the risky behavior of teens. While youth received a robust family life and sexuality education curriculum and access to reproductive health services, they’d return home to communities where the messages of sexual responsibility became quickly diluted.
A decade later, CAS Executive Director Phil Coltoff and Associate Executive Director Pete Moses collaborated with Dr. Carrera to develop a new approach, one that would help young people develop not only the capacity to avoid mistakes, but also the desire to do so. It was conceived as a seven-days-a-week program with a strong parent component. The CAS debut of this new approach took place in 1984 at the CAS Dunlevy Milbank Center, with 27 young people and a few parents. By 1990, the agency had expanded the programs to three CAS centers, increasing the number of teens reached tenfold.
That same year, CAS opened the Bernice & Milton Stern National Adolescent Sexuality Training Center. Soon after, Dr. Carrera and CAS staff provided technical assistance and training on the program model to organizations within and outside of New York City to replicate the model. Today, CAS-Carrera has been replicated in dozens of sites throughout the country.