Office of Public Health and Science
                  Office of Population Affairs
                   Office of Family Planning
                                
2006 Family Planning Program Priorities, Legislative Mandates, Key Issues

Program Priorities

     1.  Assuring ongoing high quality family planning and related preventive health services
that will improve the overall health of individuals;   
          
     2.  Assuring access to a broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods 
and related preventive health services that include natural family planning methods, infertility
services, and services for adolescents; highly effective contraceptive methods; breast and
cervical cancer screening and prevention that corresponds with nationally recognized standards
of care; STD and HIV prevention education, counseling, and testing; extramarital abstinence
education and counseling; and other preventive health services.  The broad range of services
does not include abortion as a method of family planning; 

     3.  Encouraging participation of families, parents, and/or other adults acting in the role of
parents in the decision of minors to seek family planning services, including activities that
promote positive family relationships;

     4.  Improving the health of individuals and communities by partnering with community-
based organizations (CBOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), and other public health providers
that work with vulnerable or at-risk populations; 

     5.  Promoting individual and community health by emphasizing family planning and
related preventive health services for hard-to-reach populations, such as uninsured or under-
insured individuals, males, persons with limited English proficiency, adolescents, and other
vulnerable or at-risk populations.

Legislative Mandates

     The following legislative mandates have been part of the Title X appropriations for each
of the last several years.  In developing a proposal, the applicant should describe how the
proposed project will address each of these legislative mandates.  

     "None of the funds appropriated in this Act may be made available to any entity under
     title X of the Public Health Service Act unless the applicant for the award certifies to the
     Secretary that it encourages family participation in the decision of minors to seek family
     planning services and that it provides counseling to minors on how to resist attempts to
     coerce minors into engaging in sexual activities;" and 

      "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no provider of services under title X of the
     Public Health Service Act shall be exempt from any State law requiring notification or
     the reporting of child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, or incest."

Other Key Issues

     In addition to the Program Priorities and Legislative Mandates, the following Key Issues
have implications for Title X services projects and should be acknowledged  in the program
plan:

     1.  The increasing cost of providing family planning services;

     2.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service priorities and initiatives, including
increasing access to health care; emphasizing preventive health measures, improving health
outcomes; improving the quality of health care; and eliminating disparities in health; as well as  
Healthy People 2010 objectives for Family Planning (Chapter 9); Health Communication
(Chapter 11); HIV (Chapter 13), and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Chapter 25).
(http://www.health.gov/healthypeople);

     3.  Departmental initiatives and legislative mandates, such as the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program
(IAATP); providing unmarried adolescents with information, skills and support to encourage
sexual abstinence; serving persons with limited English proficiency; 

     4.  Integration of HIV/AIDS services into family planning programs; specifically,
HIV/AIDS education, counseling and testing either on-site or by referral should be provided in
all Title X family planning services projects.  Education regarding the prevention of HIV/AIDS
should incorporate the "ABC" message.  That is, for adolescents and unmarried individuals, the
message should include "A" for abstinence; for married individuals or those in committed
relationships, the message is "B" for be faithful; and, for individuals who engage in behavior that
puts them at risk for HIV, the message should include "A," "B," and "C" for correct and
consistent condom use.

     5.  Utilization of electronic technologies, such as electronic grants management systems;

     6.  Data collection and reporting which is responsive to the revised Family Planning
Annual Report (FPAR) and other information needs for monitoring and improving family
planning services;

     7.  Service delivery improvement through utilization of  research outcomes focusing on
family planning and related population issues; and

     8.  Utilizing practice guidelines and recommendations developed by recognized
professional organizations and Federal agencies in the provision of evidence-based Title X
clinical services.