NASHVILLE, Tenn. – State Rep. Rush Bricken, R-Tullahoma, has secured $150,000 in state funding for Decisions, Choices and Options in Middle Tennessee, serving students in Coffee and Grundy counties.
The funding will be used to provide abstinence education and sexual risk avoidance (SRA) programs for youth across the state.
“Encouraging students to make good choices will significantly help them later in life,” Bricken said. “This funding will show Tennessee’s youth that abstinence and sexual risk avoidance are effective ways to stay healthy and on track. I thank my colleagues for understanding and supporting this important mission.”
Decisions, Choices and Options (DCO) works with public and private schools, after-school programs, homeschool groups and community organizations to encourage optimal health outcomes for youth by outlining the risks of early-onset sexual behavior.
The programs taught by DCO are medically accurate and meet state curriculum requirements, and the group’s instructors are certified Sexual Risk Avoidance Specialists by the country’s top SRA institute. Every year, DCO reaches more than 18,500 youth and students between the ages of 11 and 19 in Tennessee and several other states.
The appropriated funds are part of a $52.8 billion zero-debt balanced budget that was passed by the General Assembly in April. Republican priorities include significant investments in rural and behavioral health care, school safety, education and public safety.
State Rep. Rush Bricken represents House District 47, which includes Coffee and Grundy counties. He is vice chairman of the Commerce Committee and also serves on the Civil Justice Committee, Fiscal Review Committee, State Government Committee, Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee, and the Department and Agencies Subcommittee.