Title X Family Planning Program: Innovating to Deliver Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

Title X family planning clinics are a critical part of the health care safety net, providing family planning and preventive services primarily to clients who have low income or lack health insurance. For many clients, Title X services are their only ongoing source of health care and health education.

The Title X program provides services in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and eight U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States through its resilient network of family planning clinics and providers. The current 86 Title X grant recipients deliver equitable, affordable, client-centered, and high-quality family planning and preventive health services. For 50 years, Title X grant recipients have been known for their adaptability and innovation. Here is a sampling of innovation at work in Title X:

• Arizona Family Health Partnership hosts a website called sexfyi.org to engage teens in thinking about their reproductive health. Teens can use the website to learn about birth control methods, find Title X health centers, learn about their rights related to family planning, and explore links to other sexual health resources.
• Family Planning Council of Iowa works with mutual aid organizations and organizations serving refugees and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to distribute free family planning kits to anyone who needs them. Individuals can request emergency contraception online through their website.
• South Carolina State Department of Health and Environmental Control partners with a medical college to give students clinical training experience in addressing STIs and family planning-related services. They use the college’s mobile unit to reach rural and underserved patients, addressing a critical public health need for those who struggle to get to medical appointments because they lack personal or public transportation.
• Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services invested in building a strong relationship with the Department of Education and school leaders to reach more young people with information about sexual and reproductive health. They are integrating telehealth services in schools by setting up a computer station where students can obtain information about family planning and speak confidentially with providers.

The Title X program ensures access to a broad range of family planning and preventive health services including breast and cervical cancer screening, contraceptive counseling and care, and STI/HIV testing.

These services are delivered through a diverse network of clinics, including state and local health departments, federally qualified health centers, hospital-based sites, and other private nonprofit and community-based health centers.

Explore Sexual and Reproductive Health Resources from OPA-funded Training and Research Centers

The Reproductive Health National Training Center (RHNTC), Clinical Training Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health (CTC-SRH), Activate, and Thrivology develop sexual and reproductive health resources.

• Contraceptive Counseling and Education eLearning from the RHNTC – This module gives providers comprehensive information about the contraceptive methods and client-centered counseling techniques outlined in Providing Quality Family Planning Services: Recommendations of CDC and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs (QFP).
• An Overview of OPill from CTC-SRH – This podcast discusses the approval of OPill, the first hormonal contraceptive pill available over the counter.
• Tutorial for using the Helping Young People Choose the Birth Control Method Right for Them Resource from Activate – This five-part tutorial helps youth-supporting professionals use the research-informed contraception resource to facilitate conversations between young people and youth-supporting professionals that center young people’s birth control preferences, needs, and priorities.
• Sexually Transmitted Infections Services eLearning from the RHNTC – This module describes the sexually transmitted infections services that family planning clients may need.
• Exploring New Approaches for Male Engagement in Sexual and Reproductive Health Services from the CTC-SRH – This video describes structural and environmental characteristics that contribute to a male-friendly health services space. It identifies common questions and concerns of men and boys related to fertility, family planning, sexuality, and relationships.
• A Research-Based Question and Answer Resource on Intimate Partner and Teen Dating Violence for Youth Supporting Professionals from Activate – This resource provides answers to common questions that youth-supporting professionals may have about intimate partner violence and teen dating violence.

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OPA’s Title X grant recipients provide innovative, equitable, affordable, client-centered, and high-quality family planning and preventive health services in over 4,000 clinics across the U.S. Learn more about Title X service delivery innovations in the grant recipient profiles on OPA’s website: https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs/title-x-service-grants/current-title-x-service-grantees/fy2023-title-X-service-grant-awards.

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Review @HHSPopAffairs’ new Title X grant recipient profiles to learn about service delivery innovations and other success stories. https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs/title-x-service-grants/current-title-x-service-grantees/fy2023-title-X-service-grant-awards.