Two federal teen pregnancy prevention funding issues that will have a major and negative impact on Oklahoma need your attention:
1) TPP grants terminated early: The Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) projects, administered by the HHS Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), have been notified their grants will end June 2018 — in year 3, instead of completing the 5 years awarded. This early and unexpected termination means the loss of nearly $8 million in Oklahoma for the final two-year period. These grants support TPP initiatives in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, led by the Oklahoma City-County Health Dept. and Youth Services of Tulsa, along with a multi-county project in S.E. Oklahoma directed by the Choctaw Nation. The funding is invested in evidence-based programs with documented effectiveness that reach over 10,000 Oklahoma youth annually.
2) TPP funding eliminated in the FY18 budget: On July 13, the House Labor HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), passed an FY18 budget on a party-line vote. The bill totally eliminated both the OAH Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and the Title X Family Planning Program that provides contraception for low-income families. On July 19, the full House Appropriations Committee failed to restore funding for the two important prevention programs. The next step is the Senate subcommittee and full committee; those meetings have not been scheduled yet and it’s not clear when they will be. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) serves on the Senate Labor HHS, Education subcommittee.
The full article can be found here.
SOURCE: oica.org