Many Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Face Funding Cuts

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 29 Apr 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Hundreds of not-for-profit teenage pregnancy prevention and comprehensive sex education programs across the U.S. are facing budgetary constraints as a result of the economic downturn and reductions in public and private funding, which could threaten the ability of many centers to continue operations, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, recessionary pressures are taking a toll on many centers despite prospects for government funding for comprehensive sex education that could be "the best in years." President Obama has indicated that he will likely make a "sharp break" with the policies of former President George W. Bush, under whom $1.3 billion in federal funds were appropriated for abstinence-only education programs. A blueprint for Obama's proposed fiscal year 2010 budget suggests that teen pregnancy prevention funding will target programs that "stress the importance of abstinence while providing medically accurate and age-appropriate information to youth who have already become sexually active." White House spokesperson Reid Cherlin declined to comment on the administration's specific budget proposals but said that Obama "is committed to reducing the number of unintended pregnancies in this country, and we are reviewing this issue as part of the budget process." Meanwhile, Congress is expected to consider legislation (S. 611, H.R. 1551), introduced in March by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), that would provide federal funds for comprehensive sex education in schools. However, even if Congress approves new funding, the money might take until late fall or next year to start reaching programs, the Journal reports. According to the Guttmacher Institute, comprehensive sex education programs, which provide information about both abstinence and contraception, currently do not have a dedicated federal funding stream.

The Journal reports that many teen sex education programs are facing cuts from public and private funding sources all at the same time. The financial strains come at a time when teen birth rates are increasing and the number of HIV cases remains high, the Journal reports. In a recent report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that teen birth rates increased for the second year in a row in 2007, after a 14-year decline. Forrest Alton, executive director of the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, said "This is no time for an interruption in services." According to some advocates, the rise in teen birth rates could be attributed to a lack of funding for comprehensive sex education and family planning services, sexual content in the media or complacency resulting from earlier birth rate declines. Marcia Egbert -- senior program officer with the George Gund Foundation and chair of a group of public and private organizations operating sex education programs in public schools in Cleveland, Ohio -- said, "I've never seen such a juxtaposition of opportunity and pain." According to the Journal, the Cleveland program's budget was reduced by more than half this school year as a result of reductions in a state welfare block grant.

The Journal also profiled the Denmark-Olar Teen Life Center in South Carolina, which provides sex education classes, "life skills" sessions and guidance on contraceptive use, mostly to black teens. The center recently lost a significant funding source when state budget cuts compelled South Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services to narrow Medicaid reimbursement criteria. According to the Journal, the center now can bill Medicaid only for services provided to young people who are parents, sexually active or fit other medical criteria. Coretta Jamison, who has worked at the center for 17 years, said the Medicaid changes reduced the number of billings to the point that the center cannot sustain itself, despite its other grants. She added that although the local school board will provide some funds for the center during the school year, future funding sources remain unclear (McKay, Wall Street Journal, 4/28).

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