The Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) announced the availability of $50 million in formula grants to states for the Title V Abstinence Education Grant Program. These funds will support grants to states for abstinence education programs and for mentoring, counseling, or adult supervision programs. The Title V abstinence grants had previously expired in 2009 and were restored through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (health reform), which passed in March 2010.
States will need to submit an initial application by August 30, 2010, and the full plan is due on December 10, 2010. The abstinence funds require a state match of three dollars (cash or in kind) for every four federal dollars.
States are encouraged to consider research-based programs and strategies when developing their plans. States can determine the relative emphasis to place on each point of the A-H definition of abstinence, but funds cannot be used to contradict any of the A-H provisions.
Since the law also instructs states to focus on youth at greatest risk of non-marital pregnancy, ACYF encourages states to serve youth in foster care with these funds.
Resources on applying for Abstinence Funds:
- Funding announcement
- August 4 webinar on funding announcement (recording and slides)
- August 9 webinar for state child welfare directors on serving youth in foster care (recording and slides)
- Teen Pregnancy Prevention Among Youth in Foster Care
- Programs with Evidence of Success
- Office of Adolescent Health’s 28 Tier 1 programs