Significance: With the HIV epidemic impacting the adolescent and young adult population so significantly, the need for effective prevention education has never been so dire. In a recent surveillance report by the New York City Department of Health, HIV/AIDS diagnosis among individuals 13-29 accounted for over 17% of all diagnosis. The foundation for an effective prevention education program lies in the ability to close the gap between an individual?s knowledge and their ability to change behaviors to reduce risky behavior. The KAYACŪ (Keeping Adolescents and Young Adults Connected) program at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center is an adolescent outreach prevention program that addresses this need in Manhattan. Design: The KAYACŪ curriculum was designed to integrate the delivery of factual health education with interactive skills building activities. Building on the social cognitive theory, a multitude of concepts was incorporated into the curriculum including emotional coping strategies, self-control and self-efficacy. Due to the alarming rate of HIV in NYC, the Department of Education mandates that all high school students receive six HIV/AIDS education sessions a year. For a number of reasons, the majority of schools are unable to meet this mandate. In response to this need, KAYACŪ has partnered with several schools to implement the sessions. The KAYACŪ program offered eighteen different workshops, each about forty-five minutes long. Contact information was provided to all students to encourage further questions, protect confidentiality and promote HIV testing. Results: After two years of implementation, the program has signed linkage agreements with more than fifteen schools. One hundred percent of all schools have asked KAYACŪ to return and believe the program is beneficial to participants. In a recent evaluation of a random sample of 342 participants 39.47% of participants reported gaining a "high level" of knowledge and 31.58% reported acquiring a "high level" of skills which encourage comfort with sexuality and prevent HIV/STI's. Compared with similar data previously collected, this data indicates a 2.9% decrease in the health behavior gap. Participant evaluations demonstrated that a single class session was not sufficient time to establish trust with the presenter and build the necessary skills to prevent high-risk behaviors. Based on KAYACŪ's findings, it is recommended that at least three sessions will be required to ensure proper skills are obtainable.