Feds End $6.25 Million Teen Health Grant Without Explanation; Multnomah County Appeals Decision

PORTLAND, OR — The Multnomah County Health Department on Wednesday announced its move to appeal the Federal Government's plan to end a five-year grant that funded county efforts to provide health education and programs for local teens.

The grant, awarded in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Adolescent Health, provided Multnomah County $1.25 million per year for five years for the purpose of creating and implementing evidence-based programs across five school districts, which included middle schools, high schools, and culturally specific community-based settings, county officials said, noting the grant has benefitted more than 8,000 students to date.

The Trump Administration — for reasons unknown to county officials — on July 6 chose to unilaterally terminate the grant, which would have totaled $6.25 million after the full five years.

According to county spokeswoman Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, the grant was funding the Adolescents and Communities Together project — a program "designed to address health disparities that had been occurring among American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Blacks/African Americans, and Latinas," such as high teen birth rates, sexually transmitted diseases, socioeconomic disadvantages, educational attainment, and a lack of positive youth development opportunities and supports.

"The health curriculum selected was chosen based on its effectiveness in other communities," Sullivan-Springhetti said in a statement. "Studies have also shown that providing youth with comprehensive sexual education does significantly delay sexual initiation, reduced the number of sexual partners, and increased condom or contraceptive use. It also has shown to have an impact on the frequency of sex young adults participate in, by reducing it, including a return to abstinence."

Partners from a culturally diverse swath of organizations in the area were equally disappointed by the federal government's decision to renege on the grant award. A handful of those organizations offered their thoughts in the county's official statement:

"The Native American community in Portland depends on this program to improve the health of our community," said Paul Lumley, (Yakama), executive director of the Native American Youth and Family Center. "Everybody benefits when our youth are well-educated and able to make decisions that are going to help them in the future."

"David Douglas is among the most diverse school districts in Oregon, with some of the highest urban poverty rates and students who are at high risk for both unwanted pregnancies and STDs," said Dan McCue, spokesman for the David Douglas School District. "This grant has provided a valuable tool for us to deliver culturally specific, accurate, and state-standard compliant sex education to these high risk populations."

"Our community has been extremely supportive of our efforts to provide culturally specific, comprehensive sexuality education, recognizing that it provides young people with the tools to make informed decisions and build healthy relationships, and encourages healthy family communication about sexuality," said Latino Network's Veronica Sunderland-Perez.

County officials said they hope the administrative appeal will avoid unnecessary litigation — but that will ultimately be up to the Federal Government.

Photo Courtesy: Multnomah County