On Oct. 4, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), announced via a press release more than $6 million for Title X Family Planning Research grants, Research-to-Practice Center grants, and Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Evaluation and Research grants. These grants are part of its work to safeguard and increase access to reproductive healthcare and the funding is meant to go toward service delivery, promoting health behaviors, and reducing health disparities. HHS’ OPA aims to advance best practices for health in family planning and preventative care.
The release says that “Title X Family Planning Research grants aim to conduct research or analyses to generate information that will improve the delivery of family planning services and expand equitable access to quality sexual and reproductive health services offered under Title X of the Public Health Service Act.”
The Title X Family Planning Research grantees include:
- Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based RTI
- Ann Arbor, Mich.-based University of Michigan
- Baltimore-based Baltimore City Health Department
- New York-based Guttmacher Institute
- Bethesda, Md.-based Child Trends
The release notes that “OPA’s Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Research Grant projects will explore new questions in teen pregnancy prevention and adolescent sexual and reproductive health to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of these programs for adolescents or young adults, and/or reduce existing disparities. Funded grantees will conduct research or analyses to generate information that will 1) identify factors that improve the quality, access, and equity of teen pregnancy prevention programs for adolescents or young adults, or that reduce existing disparities, 2) identify and/or validate core program components or “active ingredients” essential for teen pregnancy prevention programs and practices to produce the desired outcomes; and 3) scale and conduct testing of emerging adolescent sexual health innovations in order to generate early data and prepare for future rigorous impact evaluation.”
The Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Evaluation and Research grantees include:
- Baltimore-based University of Maryland
- Milwaukee-based AMTC & Associates
- Newark, N.J.-based State University of New Jersey, Rutgers
- Tampa, Fla.-based University of South Florida
“OPA’s Research-to-Practice Center Grants projects will synthesize and translate existing research into practice to improve adolescent health and ultimately help reduce teen pregnancy,” the release comments. “Projects will focus on expanding the delivery of trauma-informed and inclusive practices in adolescent sexual and reproductive health programming and care and bringing adolescent sexual and reproductive health research to youth-serving professionals.”
Research-to-Practice Center grantees include:
- Bethesda, Md.-based Child Trends
- Takoma Park, Md.-based Healthy Teen Network
ADM Rachel L. Levine, assistant secretary for health was quoted in the release saying that "These new research grants will provide insights that will help our community partners provide essential, client-centered reproductive health services.”
Additionally, the press release outlines the actions that HHS has taken to ensure access to reproductive healthcare following Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision including protecting emergency medical care, protecting information on health and rights for patients and providers, protecting patient privacy, and protecting access to birth control.
