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 Health's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs after just three years, two years earlier than planned, and

                     WHEREAS, those dollars were funding evaluation research to ensure that programs being used in communities across the country are effective, and

                     WHEREAS, cuts mean researchers are not able to analyze data that has been collected, making it difficult to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of efforts to prevent teen pregnancy, and

                     WHEREAS, funding cuts and program changes to both Title X and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs will significantly impact access to preventive health services for the most-vulnerable populations;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Health of King County:

                     The Board of Health calls on Congress and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to protect existing evidence-based programs and emerging science-based programs designed to reduce unintended and teen pregnancies and health disparities for the most-vulnerable populations.