OPA’s 2023 Year in Review

As we enter the new year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Population Affairs (OPA) reflects on our accomplishments during the past year. We achieved many firsts in 2023, launching Take Action for Adolescents ‒ A Call to Action for Adolescent Health, debuting the HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge, and publishing a journal supplement on innovation in the TPP program in Prevention Science!

Additionally, we:

In case you missed it, OPA is now on LinkedIn. Follow us to stay updated and receive resources throughout the year.

Expanded the Title X Network, Increased Access to Family Planning Services, and Served 2.6 Million Clients Nationwide

OPA funds the Title X family planning program, which has served as a point of entry into care for nearly 195 million people for over 50 years. Title X clinics ensure access to high-quality, client-centered family planning care for millions of people. In 2023, OPA awarded more than $263 million to Title X grant recipients nationwide. Clients can receive a wide range of voluntary, client-centered family planning and related preventive services through a network of over 4,000 Title X clinics. Use our Title X family planning clinic locator to find a provider near you.

In 2023, we released the Family Planning Annual Report (FPAR) 2022 National Summary to share key findings about the Title X family planning program. Title X clinics provided family planning services to 2.6 million clients, almost 1 million more clients than in the previous year. The Title X program remains a critical safety net for people in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and eight U.S. Territories and Freely Associated State. These clinics provide services for free or on a reduced scale for clients, 31% of whom are uninsured and 84% have family incomes below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Funded New Programs to Improve Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes

OPA’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program funds diverse organizations to equip adolescents with the tools and knowledge to make healthy decisions and form healthy relationships. TPP programs engage youth, parents, caregivers, and the community in their efforts to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes. In 2023, we awarded more than $91.5 million to 71 organizations across the country. TPP grant recipients have served 1.57 million youth across 41 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Marshall Islands since 2010.

The TPP program funds:

Fifty-three organizations to advance equity in adolescent health. These organizations implement evidence-based programs in communities and populations with the greatest needs.
Twelve organizations to rigorously evaluate a diverse set of promising interventions. These interventions include those for youth in foster care, youth in juvenile justice, rural youth, expectant and parenting teens, younger adolescents in middle school, parents, and clinical providers.
Six organizations to develop, refine, and test innovative models and strategies. These projects collaborate to support development teams from initial discovery and idea generation to early testing and evaluation prep.

We invest in an innovation-to-scale continuum through the TPP program. Our grant recipients are creating, identifying, and expanding the reach of effective approaches in their communities.

Released the First-ever Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being

OPA launched Take Action for Adolescents ‒ A Call to Action for Adolescent Health to present a vision for ensuring that all adolescents in the United States have the safety, support, and resources they need to thrive, be healthy, and have equitable opportunity to realize their full potential.

Take Action for Adolescents is a call to action for adults and organizations—including policy makers, health care and human service providers, youth-serving professionals, researchers, parents, legal representatives, and caregivers—to collaborate for change that benefits young people. It outlines eight goals and aligned initial action steps that you can customize to help create coordinated systems, services, and supports for young people.

Take Action for Adolescents is the result of extensive collaboration and input from allies and partners, including federal government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, experts, and young people. Download the Call to Action and Take Action Toolkit to learn how you can support adolescent health and well-being.

Highlighting and Celebrating Adolescents’ Strengths and Potential

Each May, OPA hosts National Adolescent Health Month™ (NAHM™) to raise awareness of adolescent health topics and share how communities and youth-serving professionals can support young people. This annual observance emphasizes the importance of building on young people’s strengths and potential and engaging youth in adolescent health activities.

NAHM 2023 focused on:

Expanding sexual and reproductive health information and services;
Promoting self-care to support mental health;
Celebrating ways that communities support youth; and
Equipping adults to support adolescent health.

Fostered Innovation Across OPA’s Projects

Innovation is a community-driven and disciplined process of solving our most complex public health challenges. It reflects a broad spectrum of ways to propel our mission of advancing health across the reproductive lifespan. OPA embeds innovation values and methods across all our initiatives. We especially promote it in our grant programs.

Illuminating TPP Innovations in a First-ever Journal Supplement

In November 2023, Prevention Science published a Special Issue on Evidence from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program Experiment with Innovation. This special issue is OPA’s first-ever journal supplement focused on innovation in the TPP program. It explains how the TPP program adapted and refined its approach to dynamic innovation-to-scale projects. It also includes commentary from the Partnership for Public Service. Explore the 15 articles of critical findings such as innovation impacts, implementation science, and intervention development.

Inspiring New Ideas

OPA convened 50 teams from the TPP program, Title X program, and research and evaluation grants to network and workshop their innovations at the 2023 Innovation Exchange. Our innovators gathered to share new insights, programs, interventions, and strategies that show promise for confronting disparities in sexual and reproductive health outcomes for young people and their communities.

Watch the videos below to learn how our grant recipients engage and support families, advance health equity, and improve health care access and service delivery.

Finding Solutions to the Mental Health Crisis Among Children and Youth

OPA, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) co-led the launch of the $1 million HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge. Part of the President’s Unity Agenda and Mental Health Strategy, the Resilience Challenge is the first federal prize challenge to seek innovative community-led ideas promoting resilience in children and youth.

HHS received over 500 submissions in the first phase of the challenge. Fourteen finalists received awards for their proposed projects that aim to support children and youth from birth to age 24. Read the HHS Blog about the Resilience Challenge to learn about the finalists.

Expanded the Evidence for Effective Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs and Services

OPA, ASPE, and ACF released the first HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review (TPPER) update since 2018. This systematic review of research identifies programs with evidence of effectiveness in favorably having an impact on:

Reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and
Reducing sexual risk behaviors.

The 2023 review identified nine new programs, including seven from OPA’s TPP program, as showing evidence of effectiveness. These programs aim to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes, promote positive youth development, and advance health equity. The TPPER currently identifies 52 programs that meet the criteria for effectiveness.

Engaged OPA Programs’ Youth Participants and Lifted Their Voices

Youth and youth-serving professionals benefit from authentic youth engagement in programs. It provides adolescents with opportunities for growth and self-expression and informs programs about how to better meet the needs of youth. We kicked off the third Youth Create! call for submissions to young people ages 13-21 who participated in OPA’s TPP and Title X programs as part of our youth engagement efforts.

Youth input helped shape the prompts for 2023:

How do you care for yourself during tough times? And how can adults support you?
Spotlight something about or in your community that is important to you.
What is something that you have come to cherish or value more in the last few years?
What does a healthy future mean to you and others your age?

Young people submitted different types of media, including poetry, fine and digital art, videos, and original songs. See their thoughts and experiences by viewing the galleries and watching the compilation video.

Supported Sexual and Reproductive Health Professionals with Training and Technical Assistance

OPA supports continuing education and professional development for all grant recipients working to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes across the country.

The Reproductive Health National Training Center (RHNTC) provides intensive training and support on a wide range of sexual and reproductive health topics.
The Clinical Training Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health (CTC-SRH) provides training for Title X clinicians through on-demand webinars, e-learning, and more.

The RHNTC and CTC-SRH help ensure grant recipients and the broader workforce have the knowledge and skills to deliver high-quality services and programs. Learn more about OPA’s grant programs and their impact on communities.

Discovering New Ideas and Sharing Innovations at Conferences

OPA hosted the Title X grantee conference in July 2023 and over 400 Title X staff attended. The conference featured keynote speakers; breakout sessions on access, equity, and quality in Title X programs; an innovation lab on innovative strategies for providing sexual and reproductive health services; and an exhibit hall where national organizations shared cutting-edge resources and research.

The CTC-SRH hosted a virtual National Reproductive Health Conference (NRHC) with over 700 clinical providers this year. The NRHC is the only national conference dedicated to Title X clinicians and sexual and reproductive health professionals. Attendees joined trainings, workshops, and discussions on new approaches that support equitable access to reproductive and sexual health services.

Additionally, OPA presented more than 19 sessions at 13 national conferences. Many of these presentations included workshops with grant recipient and youth co-presenters. Session themes included:

Expanding TPP and Title X collaboration to support health equity;
Elevating the importance of young males' reproductive health; and
Highlighting the first-ever national Call to Action on adolescent health and well-being.

Spread the Word with These Posts

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The HHS Office of Population Affairs Title X family planning network provided services to 2.6 million clients in 2022. Serving almost 1 million more clients in 2022 than in 2021, the Title X network was a critical safety net for clients, 31% of whom are uninsured and 84% of whom have family incomes below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level and receive services for free or on a reduced scale. Learn about the Title X program and discover more findings in the FPAR 2022 National Summary: https://opa.hhs.gov/research-evaluation/title-x-services-research/family-planning-annual-report-fpar #2023lookback
In 2023, the HHS Office of Population Affairs awarded more than $91.5 million in TPP grants to 71 organizations to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes for young people and more than $263 million to support Title X providers who ensure access to high-quality, client-centered family planning care for millions of people. Learn more about OPA’s grant programs and how our grantee recipients make a difference in their communities. https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs #2023lookback
The HHS Office of Population Affairs promotes health across the reproductive lifespan through innovative, evidence-based adolescent health and family planning programs, services, strategic partnerships, evaluation, and research. OPA strives to respond to the needs of the youth they serve, to ensure OPA’s programs are equitable, and to support their grant recipients and partners. Stay connected with OPA and visit their website to learn more. https://opa.hhs.gov/

X/Twitter:

The Title X family planning network is on an upward trend! Serving almost 1 million more clients in 2022 than in 2021, @HHSPopAffairs’ Title X clinics provided services to 2.6 million family planning clients nationwide. https://opa.hhs.gov/research-evaluation/title-x-services-research/family-planning-annual-report-fpar #2023lookback
@HHSPopAffairs awarded over $91.5 million to 71 organizations improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes for young people and more than $263 million to Title X clinics providing high-quality family planning care for millions of people. https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs #2023lookback
@HHSPopAffairs strives to respond to the needs of the youth they serve, to ensure their programs are equitable, and to support their grant recipients and partners. Stay connected with OPA and visit their website to learn more. https://opa.hhs.gov/