Title
A RESOLUTION calling for the protection of evidence-based programs designed to reduce unintended and teen pregnancies and health disparities for the most-vulnerable populations.
Body
WHEREAS, family planning clinical services and sexual health education are twin pillars that support an overall strategy to reduce unintended pregnancy, and
WHEREAS, both approaches have been successful because of combined efforts at the local, state and federal levels, and
WHEREAS, family planning clinical services depend substantially on the Title X Family Planning Program, a federal grant program that supports health centers that provide a range of high-quality preventive health services, including breast and cervical cancer detection, screening for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV testing, health education and contraception, and
WHEREAS, service providers in King County, including Public Health - Seattle & King County, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands and Cedar River Clinics, receive Title X funds services, and to support clinical services for people most in need of public support for family planning, and
WHEREAS, we are concerned the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Title X grants administered April and July 2017 were for a one-year grant period instead of the former three-year grant period, as it signals an attempt to change the evidence-based Title X program in mid-2018 when the grant period ends, and
WHEREAS, since 2008, birth rates among King County's teens have fallen by fifty-five percent, and
WHEREAS, Public Health - Seattle & King County has created one of the most respected sexual health education programs in the United States, called FLASH, and
WHEREAS, the curriculum for FLASH is used worldwide, in every region in the United States and every school district in King County, and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decided to shorten the project length of the Office of Adolescent Heal...

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