To underwrite Choosing the Best programs, many organizations apply for one or more of three types of federal funding earmarked for abstinence-until-marriage education (known legislatively as “abstinence-only.”) Established in Section 510 of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, abstinence education is run through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is known popularly as A-H, for its eight defining characteristics:

1. has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;
2. teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age children;
3. teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;
4. teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity;
5. teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;
6. teaches that bearing children out of wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child’s parents, and society;
7. teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increases vulnerability to sexual advances; and
8. teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity.

Any group may apply for the following federal funds, which are NOT faith-based:

Title V

• Federal government provides $50 million annually as state-allocated funds.
• Requires state matching funds.
• No funded program can be incompatible with A-H.
• Funding does not require equal emphasis of each A-H point.
• Programs must target those most likely to experience out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

For more information, visit:
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/adolescents/abstinence.htm

Community-Based Abstinence
Education (CBAE)

• The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services offers grants under the Community-Based Abstinence Education program through the Administration for Children, Youth and Families. Choosing the Best curricula comply with all required content.

For more information, visit:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2006-ACF-ACYF-AE-0099.html

Title XX

• These Federal funds usually cover Care Projects, for programs targeting pregnant teens, and Prevention Projects, which focus on education.
• Congress selects projects for funding.
• Grants can last up to seven years, and recipients must provide significant matching funds.
• To date, no decision announced about grants for FY2003, which began October 1, 2002.

For more information, visit:
http://opa.osophs.dhhs.gov/grants.html