Statement from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
2/2/2010
(Washington,
DC) - President Obama's FY 2011
budget proposal released on February 1, 2010 provides continued investments in
several programs that help reduce teen and unplanned pregnancy, including
increased funding over FY 2010 levels in several cases. Highlights include:
-
$129 million in discretionary funding for
evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, an increase of $19 million
over the amount appropriated for FY 2010. This includes $85 million for
programs with the strongest evidence of success, $28 million for innovative
strategies to reduce teen pregnancy, $4 million for rigorous evaluation of
programs funded under this initiative, and $12 million for training, technical
assistance, and program support.
-
$50 million in mandatory funds for grants to
states, tribes, and territories for evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention
programs, which is consistent with the FY 2010 proposal but has not yet been
enacted.
-
$4.5 million for longitudinal evaluation of teen
pregnancy prevention programs, consistent with the FY 2010 appropriated level.
-
$22 million for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention’s Promoting Science-Based Approaches project within the Safe
Motherhood Project, an increase of $7 million over the FY 2010 appropriated
level.
-
$327 million for the Title X family planning
program, an increase of $10 million over the FY 2010 appropriated level.
-
$500 million in mandatory funding for a new
Fatherhood, Marriage, and Families Innovation Fund for competitive grants to
States to conduct and rigorously evaluate comprehensive responsible fatherhood
projects and projects that improve child outcomes by improving outcomes for
their parents.This program folds in
funding of $150 million for what was the Healthy Marriage and Responsible
Fatherhood Grants.
In total,
the budget proposes $183 million to prevent teen pregnancy within the newly
established Office of Adolescent Health and $22 million within CDC.The National Campaign applauds the Administration's commitment
to these important investments at a time when budgets are constrained and the
President has called for an overall freeze on non-security spending, and
particularly commends the strong focus on research and evidence.These critical and timely investments are
more important than ever in light of the recent sobering news that the national
teen pregnancy rate rose three percent between 2005 and 2006.
At the same
time, unplanned pregnancy is not just about teens.At present more than half of all pregnancies
in the United States
are unplanned; moreover, this proportion has not budged for years, and for some
groups, unplanned pregnancy has increased.While The National Campaign welcomes the additional $10 million for the
Title X program, we look forward to working with Congress to ensure that
funding for family planning services is sufficient to meet the needs of the
millions of uninsured or underinsured individuals seeking contraceptive
services and counseling and other preventive health care services.The need for a more significant investment in
cost-effective family planning services is greater than ever.
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