The Families Matter! Program (FMP) is an evidence-based intervention designed to promote positive parenting and effective communication for parents of 9-12 year olds. This program is linked to PF goal 1. The program aims to reduce sexual risk among adolescents and promote parent-child communication about sexuality and sexual risk reduction. Samaritans Purse (SP) will continue implementation in FY12. In addition SP will implement community counseling and testing activities with a focus on strengthened linkages to other HIV services. FMP is being implemented in Bilene and Xai-Xai in Gaza. 3000 parents are targeted and 10000 children. CT activities will take place in Inhambane. SP underwent an expenditure analysis exercise and will use their results to program more effectively under their recurrent costs. Investments costs will decrease and the partner will continue to use their pipeline funds to partially fund activities in FY12. Transition considerations will be based on pilot approaches currently being developed through PEPFAR Mozambique. SP has hired, trained, and implemented the program primarily through host country national staff who will be well-positioned to continue implementation support upon formal transition. A monitoring plan is in place to capture the SBRP 1 and SBRP 2 data. SP will work closely with the USG and partner Strategic information teams to develop instruments to document and measure CT service uptake as well as service-to-service and facility-to-community linkages to ensure follow-up, retention and adherence of clients diagnosed with HIV. Cross-cutting gender issues are embedded in SP work; FMP includes focus on adolescent girls, and CT services include community-based approaches that encourage male involvement. No vehicles are requested.

The Families Matter! Program (FMP) is an evidence-based intervention designed to promote positive parenting and effective communication for parents of 9-12 year olds. This family prevention program strives to foster enhanced protective parenting practices that support the reduction of sexual risk behaviors among adolescents, including delayed onset of sexual debut, by giving parents tools to deliver primary prevention to their children. A preliminary analysis of an assessment conducted in Kenya 15 months post-intervention, found sustained positive effect in terms of parenting and communication skills reported by participants and their children separately.

FY 2012 funds will be used to implement FMP in Gaza Province, along high density, high HIV prevalence transport corridor. Samaritans Purse traine FMP facilitators to deliver the five consecutive, three-hour sessions for parents and caregivers. The intervention curriculum, adapted specifically for Mozambique, focuses on: raising awareness about the sexual risks many teens face; encouraging parenting practices that decrease the likelihood that children will engage in risky sexual behaviors; and improving parents ability to effectively communicate about abstinence, sexuality and sexual risk reduction. An additional emphasis will be placed on training parents to address the role of gender-based norms in adolescent sexual decision-making and risks associated with transgenerational sex for girls. FMP activities will be linked with other youth-focused interventions implemented in and out of schools by Samaritans Purse and others. In addition, Samaritans Purse uses the opportunity to reach adults during the FMP training and will include messages about fidelity, multiple concurrent partnerships and substance use. Community-based activities with provincial leaders will be initiated to foster changes in social norms that support protective behaviors for adolescents

Samaritans Purse will continue its support to MOH through an alignment of FY 2012 activities with overall PEPFAR Counseling and Testing goals and strategies, with a focus on strengthened linkages from HTC to other services.

Through mobile and outreach as well as home-based HTC Samaritans Purse will target populations less likely to access facility based health services with a special focus on men, adolescent girls, partners of PLHIV and couples in communities with high populations density and high prevalence as well as low numbers of people previously tested. Whereas in previous years, counselors simply gave referral slips to HIV positive clients, with COP 12 funds, Samaritans Purses counselors will have a stronger role supporting newly diagnosed clients by personally introducing them to existing peer educator/peer navigator/case manager volunteers who will navigate or escort clients to enroll or register for follow up services, including positive prevention or the new MOH pre-ART service delivery package and support groups. For those newly diagnosed who do not enroll in HIV care and treatment services, CT counselors will continue using the door to door approach to re-visit already diagnosed HIV positive to monitor their enrollment and adherence to recommended treatment and care through the positive prevention or pre-ART support groups. HIV negative clients will be encouraged to bring their partners in for testing and reduce their risk through condom use and partner reduction. Where available, counselors will refer HIV negative men to medical male circumcision services. Additionally, through parents and facilitators, access to health services will be enhanced as at-risk youth are identified and accompanied to district SAAJs. In particular, young pregnant women and sexually active youth will be encouraged to receive HIV counseling and testing, pre-natal care services and screening for STIs. This activity will provide support and follow up to youth, while at the same time considering and respecting their need for confidentiality

Samaritan's Purse will continue work to increase the capacity of parents to help youth reduce the risks of HIV infection, by promoting responsible sexual behavior and addressing reproductive health issues among population in the Maputo corridor communities along the EN1 highway in southern Mozambique between Maputo and Xai Xai, and Inhambane. These areas were chosen due to their critical situation in terms of HIV prevalence among youth, high-density populations and ability to build upon existing SP contextual knowledge, resources and complementary programming, plus they are very close one to another with very similar social conditions. Interventions will include skills-based training of parents and guardians, dissemination of information, education and communication (IEC) on HIV/RH topics, provide capacity building of local institutions and increasing linkages and community access to health and social services.