Fact Forward receives funding from the Office of Population Affairs for three-year project

Fact Forward is one of 49 grantees to receive funding from the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last week OPA awarded $56,300,000 to organizations across the country for the “Optimally Changing the Map for Teen Pregnancy through Replication of Programs (Tier 1)” funding opportunity. $4.3 million  will support four South Carolina organizations. The grants start on July 1, 2020 for a three-year project period.

Fact Forward’s funded project Expanding Opportunities for Teen Mothers and Families in South Carolina, aims to reduce rapid repeat pregnancies (i.e., a pregnancy within two years of last pregnancy), sexually transmitted infections, and improve economic stability among teen mothers (ages 15-19) in high need zip codes located in Aiken and Anderson Counties.

Fact Forward worked with school districts, DHEC, and local coordinating agencies like Helping Hands in Aiken County and United Way of Anderson County for the last 5 years on the OPA funded Expanding the Reach project. This project focused on providing evidence based teen pregnancy prevention programs to middle and high school aged youth. The Expanding the Reach project ended June 30, 2020.

This new grant through OPA will allow these already engaged communities to shift greater focus to pregnant and parenting teens through the use of AIM for Teen Moms (AIM4TM), an evidence-based curriculum designed to meet the needs of teen mothers centered on preventing rapid repeat pregnancy as well as improving educational outcomes and economic stability.

Fact Forward will once again partner with Helping Hands in Aiken County, and the United Way of Anderson County to implement AIM4TM. These partners will employ a Community Health Worker to reach a minimum of 222 recent teen mothers from high-need zip codes over the three-year project.

“Fact Forward is pleased to once again receive funding from OPA to continue our work in Aiken and Anderson Counties,” Doug Taylor, Fact Forward Director of Community Programs and Evaluations, said.  “Over the past five years, through our strong partnerships with Helping Hands and the United Way of Anderson County, we have created a network of agencies committed to improving the lives of youth through evidence based teen pregnancy prevention programs.”

If you have any questions about the project, contact [email protected].

About Fact Forward: 
We promote easy access to reproductive healthcare, from counseling to contraceptives. We train and educate people who work with young adults. We partner with a variety of organizations – public, private, school, and community-based – to promote policies and initiatives that improve reproductive health outcomes throughout the state.