A Dallas organization focused on reducing the number of teen pregnancies, is about to lose three quarters of its budget.
The North Texas Alliance to reduce unintended pregnancy in teens (NTRUPT) will lose $1 million in federal grant money this June.
According to NBC news, and The Dallas Morning News, President Donald Trump's administration canceled a federal program to prevent teen pregnancy. That program funded NTRUPT.
The organization offers parent and teenagers classes. Students learn about abstinence and birth control, while parents are taught about having tough conversations with their children.
Ashley Gallegos is a sophomore who took the class. "It was nice to, you know, know that you are not alone, and that everyone is talking about it," she said.
Her mom is one of the teachers for the parent classes. “After I received the training and after she received the training, we are more close,” said Jennifer Hernandez.
Terry Greenberg is the CEO, and tells NBC 5 that almost 3,000 students and parents have taken their classes. She says this is very frustrating that they will lose the money, but Greenberg is determined to raise as much as possible.
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“We have used the support that we have to get private funding, and we are going to continue. I mean, we are not going anywhere, but it is going to impact the momentum that we are having working in all these areas,” Greenberg said.
NTRUPT shared numbers they received from Parkland Hospital system regarding teens and birth rates in 2015 that shows Texas has a higher than average birth rate. the U.S. average for the number of births by teens between ages 15 and 19 is 22 -- in Texas, the average is 35 per year and in Dallas County, it's 40.
Greenberg says they don't have new data to see results of the NTRUPT program on birth rate.
We reached out to the Department of Health and Human services, and were given statistics from 2017. The Department of Health and Human Services studied the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention program nationwide, and found that of the 37 programs, 73 % had either no impact or negative impact on teen behavior, meaning students may be more likely to have intercourse. Click here to read that study.
The Department Health and Human Services has a new $10 million dollar initiative to prevent teenage pregnancy. Read the news release from The Department of Health and Human Service here.
