July 28, 2008

Title V Grant Extension Is a Gimmick; Hurts Florida Teens

Sarasota, FL — Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates (FAPPA) today criticized the Bush administration for misleading states about the certainty of Title V abstinence-only program funding in a new grant extension announced recently. The move is a gimmick aimed directly at countering states’ rejection of failed abstinence-only programs.

“On the way out the door, the Bush administration is once again caught misrepresenting the facts to push its own agenda,” said Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates executive director, Adrienne Kimmell. “This latest announcement is nothing more than a gimmick and offers nothing new or different for states that want to provide effective programs to protect teens’ health and safety.”

Recently, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sent an e-mail to states touting the extension of the Title V, Section 510 State Abstinence Education Grant Program, and informing them that they may now submit one application for funding for five years, from fiscal year (FY) 2009 through FY2013. Previously, states were required to submit a new Title V grant application each year.

The grant extension distorts the facts around funding availability for Title V. In fact, Congress must still determine whether to grant an extension of the program past June 2009, meaning funding uncertainty still exists for state programs.

“Teens need and deserve responsible sex education that includes information about abstinence, and about protection from diseases and pregnancy,” Kimmell said. “The government’s own evaluation of Title V abstinence-only programs found that they did nothing to increase abstinence or delay sexual initiation among participating youth. Further, a University of Florida study released in 2007 showed that Florida teens are not getting the information they need to lead healthy lives.”

To date, 25 states have declined federal abstinence-only dollars, however Florida continues to receive the second-highest amount funding for this ineffective program. In addition, Florida provides state dollars to fund this ineffective program, despite the state’s growing budget crisis and high teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS rates. Officials in many of the states that have rejected these dollars have expressed clear and unequivocal support for real solutions that give teens the information they need to be healthy and safe.

In the last decade, more than $1.5 billion in federal and state funding has been wasted on dangerous abstinence-only programs that deny teenagers lifesaving information. In Fiscal Year 2007, Florida received $12,949,133 in federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. In Fiscal Year 2007, Florida provided $1.5 million in general revenue to make the required match for Title V funding. It’s time to put that money toward real solutions that will help prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among teenagers.

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The Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates (FAPPA) is the state public policy office representing Florida’s six Planned Parenthood affiliates with 22 health care centers across the state. FAPPA works to advance public policy in areas of reproductive health care, family planning and medically-accurate sex education in order to make comprehensive reproductive health care available to all.