On Aug. 25, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the allocation of roughly $23 million through the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) to enhance the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program, according to a press release. Admiral Rachel L. Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health, emphasized the program's goal of improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health while prioritizing equity.
“Our TPP program provides new research on innovative practices or specific populations and settings, which can support greater equity in TPP programming overall,” Admiral Levine said, according to the press release. “The overarching goal is to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health, promote positive youth development, and advance health equity.”
According to the press release, the funding is aimed at improving the TPP program by focusing on innovation, research, and extending evidence to bolster and promote equity within the program. The TPP program supports evidence-based initiatives intended to to prevent unintended teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), fosters positive youth development, and improve equity in adolescent health.
Funding will go towards supporting 18 new TPP Tier 2 projects including 12 projects geared towards implementing and evaluating an array of intervention approaches and six projects to develop, refining, and testing supplementary models and innovative strategies.
“All the new interventions address gaps in the current evidence base and have the potential to contribute new evidence-based interventions for future implementation to scale through OPA’s TPP program,” said Jessica Swafford Marcella, HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs. “These awards reflect the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to both sexual and reproductive health and to prioritizing health equity.”
These new projects join the other 53 new Tier 1 projects that OPA announced in June 2023.
Visitors can obtain more information about the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program online at: https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs/teen-pregnancy-prevention-program.
