About Us:

The Smart Teens / Healthy Decisions Coalition unites Garland County individuals and organizations operating under a grant funded through the Federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).  This grant is administered by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services and New Futures for Youth, a Little Rock based non-profit organization.  New Futures for Youth is a collaboration of community and institutional representatives committed to improved outcomes for youth, including preventing and reducing the number of out-of-wedlock births.

The Coalition is one of several organizations throughout the state to subcontract with New Futures for Youth to promote values and behavior designed to decrease high risk behavior by improving decision-making and refusal communication and advocacy skills to empower area youth to stand up to many of the peer pressures they face. By providing comprehensive human sexuality curricula that combines abstinence messages with age-appropriate, medically accurate health information and education, the Coalition’s goals are to:

(1) delay and/or reduce sexual activity among youth

(2) to reduce/prevent teen pregnancy

(3) to reduce/prevent the rate of sexually transmitted infections.

Organizations supporting the Smart Teens/Healthy Decisions Coalition grant application include Webb Community Center, Quapaw House, Inc., Hot Springs AIDS Resource Center, CHOICE Hot Springs, National Park Community College Division of Nursing, Paul Bewie Boys and Girls Club, and Ouachita Civilian Conservation Corps Health Center.  Since receiving the grant, Community Counseling Services, Inc., Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village Unitarian Universalist Churches, Virginia Clinton-Kelly Democratic Women's Club, REGARD, Highland Presbyterian Church, and the Congregation House of Israel have become participating members of the Coalition. Individuals from several of these organizations and from the community-at-large have contributed their time to the formation of our organization and support our mission.

our goal what we do