Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program FY22 Appropriations Request

As local, state, and national organizations dedicated to the health and success of youth in this country, we urge Congress to increase funding for the Office of Population Affairs’ (OPA) Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program to $150 million and dedicate at least $900,000 within the Public Health Services (PHS) funding for “Evaluation of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Approaches” to reactivate the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review. Since 2010, the TPP Program, along with the Administration on Children and Families’ Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) (authorized at $75 million annually through FY 2023) have been recognized as pioneering examples of tiered, evidence-based policymaking that represent important contributions to building a body of evidence of what works. These complimentary programs have traditionally included high-quality implementation, evaluation, innovation, and learning from results. The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review, an independent, systematic, rigorous review of evaluation studies informed TPP and PREP grantmaking and provided a clearinghouse of evidence-based programs for other federal, state, and community initiatives—until funding for it ceased under the previous Administration. As Congress works on funding for FY 2022, it is essential to increase funding for the TPP Program and specifically allocate funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review. It is also vital that Congress ensure the TPP Program and PREP adhere to rigorous standards of evidence, and avoid biased or incomplete information.