The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health has awarded three South Carolina health organizations $18 million in grants to fund teen pregnancy programs, as announced by the OAH last Tuesday.
The recipients of the grants include the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, based in Columbia, the Mary Black Foundation in Spartanburg, and the Children’s Council in Lancaster. They will receive four grants, totaling more than $3.7 million annually for the next five years, according to The State.
The OAH evaluates and supports evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention, to increase the collective impact of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to improve the health of adolescents.
“That South Carolina organizations received four of those grants is a great accomplishment,” S.C. Campaign CEO Forrest Alton said.
South Carolina has the 12th highest teen birth rate in the United States, where 1 in 13 S.C. teens, aged 15-19, gives birth every day.
According to GoUpstate.com, The Mary Black Foundation will work with ten local organizations to implement programs for at- risk teenagers.
The South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, as well as the Children’s Council in Lancaster, will use part of their grants to implement teen pregnancy prevention programs in middle schools and high schools.
The three programs combined are predicted to reach more than 50,000 young people in South Carolina over the five-year period.