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South Carolinaʼs New Federal Funding for Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Its Impact on Aiken County

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Aiken Youth Empowerment would like to congratulate the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy for being awarded over $20 million in new federal grant dollars over the next 5 years for the prevention of teen pregnancy in South Carolina. The SC Campaign will truly be able to make an impact reducing our states high teen pregnancy rates. We are thrilled that so much money will be coming to our state for teen pregnancy prevention.

Since the announcements of the grants awarded, our organization has been asked “with all this money coming to South Carolina for teen pregnancy prevention, how could you possibly have a funding crisis?”
The answer is that not every county in South Carolina will benefit equally from this money. Two of the three grants are earmarked to implement research proven curricula at at 24 middle schools around the state. None of these sites, at least right now, are located in Aiken County (see detailed explanation below). However, Aiken County might benefit from the third source of federal money coming to the state, PREP (Personal Responsibility Education Program). PREP will help community organizations implement research proven interventions to prevent teen pregnancy in their communities.

So with all this money, does your organization have a funding crisis? Simply put “YES”.
This past July, we received a $75,000 budget cut due to the elimination of the DSS teen pregnancy prevention grant. To date, we have not found a new funding source. The PREP money looks promising and we hope to have the opportunity to apply for it around the beginning of the new year but there is no guarantee. We hope to hear more soon about how the money will be distributed and how much will be available for communities. Therefore, we are urgently looking for new sources of funding, support from local businesses and the community as a whole.

We hope the community will join us and take a stand to prevent teen pregnancy in Aiken County. Preventing teen pregnancy will not only have a positive impact on reducing school dropouts and improving school readiness; but will also help to reduce poverty, child abuse and many other social problems affecting our community. As a result, more children that grow up to be productive members of our community.

FUNDING BREAKDOWN: (source: The State Newspaper)
State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex joined leaders from the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy today to announce nearly $20 million in new federal grant dollars to help combat the state’s teen pregnancy epidemic. Three separate funding streams totaling nearly $20 million over the next five years will expand and intensify teen pregnancy prevention efforts in South Carolina and ultimately put millions of dollars directly back into South Carolina communities.

First, funding from a five-year cooperative agreement from the national Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) will partner the SC Campaign with the Department of Education and at least 24 middle schools to replicate a proven effective, evidence based curriculum, filling a much needed void in several rural school districts across South Carolina. This funding will intensify work that the SC Campaign already conducts in partnership with the Department of Education in each of the state’s 86 school districts. All programs in schools will comply with state law and participating school districts will be in the driver's seat to make their own local decisions about
implementation.
** At this time, none of the targeted schools for this grant are located in Aiken County.

Second, funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will result in the development and implementation of a community-wide model, specifically targeting minority youth in two high-need counties: Spartanburg and Horry.

The third funding stream is South Carolina’s block-grant allocation from the newly established Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP). In collaboration with SC DHEC, the Campaign will facilitate the distribution of these funds to targeted counties throughout the state to increase communities use and implementation of research proven, effective approaches to teen pregnancy prevention.
**Our organization is excited about this funding stream. We hope to have the opportunity to bid for this money in the near future.

Existing partnerships with numerous state agencies, local school districts and community based organizations throughout South Carolina will be enhanced and expanded with the utilization of these multiple funding streams – which, while beneficial, are not allowed to replace any existing funding or programs that are being offered in the state. Tens of thousands of young people stand to benefit from the expanded provision of services. In addition, partnerships with federal funders within the US Department of Health and Human Services position South Carolina well to
continue to benefit from additional funding streams that may become available in future years.

Contacts:
Forrest Alton, The State Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy - 803-771-7700
www.teenpregnancysc.org

Susan Meehan, Aiken Youth Empowerment - 441-0016 or
smeehan@aikenyouthempowerment.org
www.aikenyouthempowerment.org

GA - Funds target high teen birth rate

Recently deeming teen pregnancy "one of the six winnable battles," the Centers for Disease Control is sending $7.5 million to tackle Richmond County's high teen birth rate.
One of just eight communities in the United States awarded the CDC funds, Augusta has until 2015 to drop a birth rate of 71.2 per 1,000 people by 10 percent, but it won't be going it alone.
Administering the grant funds, some $1.5 million per year, is the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, an Atlanta-based organization that applied for the money on behalf of 10 Augusta community organizations and five health clinics, according Michele Ozumba, Georgia's former director of adolescent health and president of GCAPP.

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