Dallas Program to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Under Threat After Trump Cuts

In parts of Dallas, teenage girls are more likely to get pregnant than get a college degree. In some neighborhoods, one in nine females has a baby by the time she turns 19. To combat this, a federal grant provided $1 million to fund annual sexual education programs for parents and students in these high-risk areas. But this month, President Donald Trump's administration quietly scrapped 81 teen pregnancy prevention program and research grants, including the Dallas one. "This is going to be devastating," said Gwen Daverth, CEO of The Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. "This is the most substantial source of funding in our state." The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services eliminated two years from the five-year grants awarded by President Barack Obama's administration. There was no announcement about the cuts by the Trump administration totaling $213.6 million, however all the grant awardees received a letter saying their funding would end in June 2018, instead of June 2020, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting."All of these grantees were given a project end date of June 30, 2018, allowing the grantees an opportunity to adjust their program and plan for an orderly close-out," said a Health and Human Services spokeswoman. She did not answer questions about what prompted the decision. However, the administration offered some explanation in its justifications to congress about its budget proposal that eliminated the program."The teenage pregnancy rate has declined significantly over recent years, but it does not appear this program has been a major driver in that reduction," according to the HHS' congressional justifications.  Continue reading...