BOZEMAN, Mont. —Bridgercareis trying to replace lost funding after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ended support for its teen pregnancy prevention program before a five-year grant was set to finish.
The Bozeman health care provider offers reproductive health care and education across southwest Montana. Executive Director Stephanie McDowell said the grant ended at the close of the third year.
The organization received a letterfrom DHHSstating its curriculum did not match agency priorities. McDowell saidBridgercareusedevidence-basededucationalprogrammingshown toreduce teen pregnancy and sexual activity.
Bridgercareusually workswithdifferent groupsthat serve teens to deliver that education.McDowell said the organization followed the lead of each partner and tailored lessons to community needs.
“We really try to take the lead of the organization thatwe'repartnering with and what their community looks like and what their community wants. And so oftentimeswe'reinvited into schools. We can be invited intochurches,organizations thatare servingat-risk youth. And we really respect the boundaries that they set. And we provide education based on what they would like to see us do,” McDowell said.
According to theMontana Youth Risk Survey, 42%of Montana high school students reported having sex. Half reported using a condom the last time they had sex and less than half reported using another form of birth control.
McDowell said the grant requiredBridgercareto meet with the Department of Health and Human Services once a month. She said the group still had approval last month and that the letter was the onlyindicationthere was a problem.For the fourth year of the grant,Bridgercarewas scheduled to work with groups in 19 Montana counties.
Bridgercareisworking with congressional legislators, reapplying forfundingand asking the community for support in the meantime, McDowell said.
“I think the abrupt stop to the grant is reallydisappointing,”shesaid.
NonStopLocal reached out to DHHS for comment and has not heard back at this time.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.