Gov. Blagojevich announces $2 million for teen pregnancy prevention grants

SPRINGFIELD - Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today announced $2 million in grants for teen pregnancy prevention. The grants included in the Fiscal Year 2006 budget will be distributed by the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) to 35 community-based agencies throughout the state. 

 

The DHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention program provides grants to community agencies to reduce teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and the incidence of HIV/AIDS.  Earlier this year, Gov. Blagojevich announced the number of babies born to Illinois teenagers continued a nine-year decline in 2003, falling to a record low of 9.7 percent.

 

"The fact that there are fewer teens having babies tells us that the state's prevention messages are being heard," said Gov. Rod Blagojevich.  "Still, there are some communities with higher rates of teen births and we're working with the Department of Human Services and local agencies to focus our efforts on those areas with the highest need for prevention."

 

DHS Secretary Carol L. Adams, PhD added, "Preventing teen pregnancy is an important health goal because teen moms and their babies face more health risks because they are less likely to receive regular prenatal care, more likely to smoke when pregnant and more likely to have a low birth weight infant, all of which are factors in infant deaths and poor health outcomes."

 

The DHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention program is designed to enhance and focus collaborative relationships among community partners enabling them to plan local strategies to enrich primary pregnancy prevention, improve access to health services for adolescents and increase the role of the schools in improving adolescent health.  The program components focus on sexuality education/family planning information and referral, male involvement, parental involvement, youth development, and/or public awareness. 

 

The reduction in teen births by race in the past decade was greatest among African Americans with a 40 percent decline.  Among whites, teen births fell 36 percent while Hispanic teen births rose 7 percent in the past 10 years from 5,085 in 1994 to 5,437 in 2003.

 

"Teen pregnancy clearly remains a serious problem, with long lasting economic, social and personal costs for teens, their children and society and we are committed to continuing our efforts," Adams continued. "These grants were selected based on their proposals for serving the specific needs of their communities."

 

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants were funded through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process as part of the DHS Maximizing Accountability and Excellence (MAX) initiative to increase the amount of contract dollars that are competitively bid and place more state funding in areas of greatest need. 

 

Also today, Gov. Blagojevich proclaimed July Health Care Month in the state of Illinois, launching a month-long effort to expand, improve and promote access to health care for Illinois families.  During the month of July, the Governor will sign new laws designed to improve access to health care for working families and seniors, enact meaningful medical malpractice reform, ease the nursing shortage, provide hospitals with nearly $2 billion in new federal funds, help senior citizens afford the high cost of prescription drugs, increase critical cancer screening for women, raise awareness about various diseases, and increase funding for diabetes research.

 

Making sure that more people get more health care and better benefits, protecting coverage for those who have health care, and helping hospitals, doctors and nurses provide better health care are some of the Governor's top priorities.  Specifically:

 

·                    Best in the nation for providing health care to the working poor:  Since Governor Blagojevich took office, 313,000 more men, women and children have received health care through the KidCare and FamilyCare programs - at a time when most states are not only not providing more coverage for the working poor, but also kicking people off of Medicaid or significantly reducing their benefits.  This year's budget included funding to add another 56,000 men, women and children.  The Kaiser Foundation has ranked Illinois the best state in the nation for providing health care to people who need it. 

 

·                    One of only a handful of states to protect Medicaid recipients: The budget signed by Governor Blagojevich a few weeks ago ensures - for the third consecutive year, despite facing budget deficits - that Medicaid recipients maintain their health care, unlike states ranging from Missouri to Tennessee to Texas to Washington who are either kicking people off of Medicaid or significantly reducing benefits. 

 

·                    First state to develop a statewide small business health insurance pool and program: Governor Blagojevich and the Chicagoland Chamber of  Commerce are developing a small business health insurance program that will help small businesses reduce their costs by 10-15% and provide more health care for their employees.  Illinois will be the first state to create a pool where businesses of 50 employees or less can join, saving money on the negotiated rate, administrative costs and broker fees. 

 

·                    First state to make rx drugs from Europe and Canada available: Under Governor Blagojevich, Illinois became the first state to allow its citizens to purchase prescription drugs from Europe and Canada.  More than 10,000 people have enrolled in the last few months alone to take advantage of lower prices (25-50% less) for over 120 name brand prescription drugs. 

 

·                    Most comprehensive state response to fill in gaps in the federal rx drug benefit: This spring, the General Assembly passed the Governor's Leave No Senior Behind legislation, which is Illinois' response to the federal Medicare rx drug benefit.  Because of the major holes in the federal program, the Governor's plan fills in the gaps, so Illinois seniors will not suffer the same fate that face seniors in other states.

 

·                    First state to require pharmacists to dispense female contraceptives:  In April, Governor Blagojevich issued an emergency rule requiring pharmacists whose pharmacies sell contraception to dispense birth control to women with valid prescriptions.  The Governor's emergency rule will become permanent this summer.  In addition, the state will soon launch a new website to help women know which insurers now cover contraceptives, helping hundreds of thousands of women save an average of $400/ year on the cost of their contraceptives.

 

·                    Improving women's health programs: Governor Blagojevich created the Illinois Healthy Women program to provide health care to women who otherwise would go without.  To date, the program has served more than 90,000 women.  In addition, Illinois has dramatically increased the number of mammograms and cervical cancer screenings  since Governor Blagojevich took office.

 

·                    Accessing nearly $2 billion in new federal health care money: This summer, Governor Blagojevich will sign the hospital assessment legislation, which means nearly $2 billion in new federal funding for Illinois hospitals.  Last year, the Governor persuaded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to approve a plan that meant nearly $500 million in new federal funds for Illinois hospitals.  This plan, which requires federal approval but was constructed with their guidelines in mind, means more than three times that amount.

 

·                    Medical Malpractice Reform: This summer, Governor Blagojevich will sign major medical malpractice reform legislation, which will reduce the cost of insurance premiums for doctors and stop doctors from leaving the state.  Governor Blagojevich helped pass the legislation despite his personal opposition to caps, because making sure that people have access to health care is probably the most important function government performs.

 

·        Reducing the nursing shortage: This summer, Governor Blagojevich will sign a package of bills aimed at reducing the nursing shortage in Illinois, including making it easier for foreign nurses to practice in Illinois.  The state also eliminated the nurses registration backlog this April and increased the amount available in grants for nurses training.  This fulfills the initiative launched by the Governor in his State of the State address to reduce the nursing shortage.

 

Fiscal Year 2006 Awards

 

Program                                                           City                              Amount

Adams County Health Department                  Quincy                   $35,000

ASPIRA Inc. of Illinois                                   Chicago                       80,000

Aunt Martha's Youth Service Center             Chicago Heights           60,000

Bethany for Children and Families                        Moline              80,000

Casa Central                                                    Chicago                       65,000

Children's Home Association of Illinois   Peoria                          80,000

Cook County Department of Public Health             Oak Park                  80,000

Erie Family Health Center                           Chicago                       40,000

Family Focus Aurora                                                 Aurora                          60,000

Family Focus Lawndale                                 Chicago                      90,000

Fayette County Health Department                  Vandalia                       50,000

Franklin-Williamson Human Services Inc            West Frankfort          60,000

FORUM                                                          Chicago                       70,000

Fulton County Health Department                  Canton                          67,000

Greater DuPage MYM, Inc                               Glen Ellyn                  50,000

Healthcare Alternative Systems, Inc.                Chicago                       70,000

Hoyleton Youth and Family Services             Washington Park          40,000

Human Resource Development Institute             Chicago                      50,000

Jersey County Health Department                  Jerseyville                     16,000

Kankakee County Health Department             Kankakee                   40,000

Knox County Health Department                  Galesburg                   33,000

Lake County Health Department

and Community Health Center               Waukegan                    80,000

Macoupin County Health Department            Girard                          25,000

Methodist Youth Services, Inc.                  Chicago                      60,000

MGR Foundation                                           Chicago                      34,700

Morgan County Health Department                  Jacksonville                 23,400

Mujeres Latinas en Accion                         Chicago                      70,000

Pilsen Little Village

Community Mental Health Center              Chicago                       70,000

Planned Parenthood of Decatur                        Decatur                          47,700

Sangamon County Health Department             Springfield                     45,000

Southern Seven Heath Department                  Ullin                              85,000

St. Clair County Health Department                  Belleville                       80,000

Tazewell County Health Department                  Tremont                        41,000

Winnebago County Health Department             Rockford                     90,000

Youth Guidance                                              Chicago                       80,000

35 agencies                                                                        Total     $2,047,800

 

Grant disbursements will begin in July.