ABSTRACT
Youth-serving agencies in the United States rank second only to the public school system in the number of young participants they serve. The relationship between organizational policy and program development, or between research and program, is a complex but important factor in moving organizations from a position of reticence or inertia to one of commitment and action. The burgeoning professional literature on adolescent sexuality has helped to spur several organizations into action. This chapter offers a case study of how one national organization, Girls Clubs of America, implemented an agency wide focus on sexuality education. This analysis is followed by an update on the current sex education efforts of several other national youth-serving agencies. The chapter concludes with a summary of the characteristics of these groups that make them current and future resources in addressing the sexual information needs of young people.
