OPA Newsroom

See the latest news updates and press releases from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA).

Note: The announcements below include past notices that may contain information and links that are not current or updated by OPA.

2024

HHS Announces the Winners of Inaugural Children and Youth Resilience Challenge

June 28, 2024—HHS announced the final grand prize winner and two runners-up of the national Children and Youth Resilience Challenge, the first-ever federal prize competition for community-led, culturally responsive innovations that advance mental health and well-being among children and youth from birth to age 24. HHS launched the Children and Youth Resilience Challenge as part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda and Mental Health Strategy. The Resilience Challenge is also an initiative of the HHS Behavioral Health Coordinating Council Subcommittee on Children and Youth. Watch the showcase videos below to learn more about the winning Resilience Challenge innovations.

Grand Prize: Students Run Philly Style MileUp Program (Philadelphia, PA); Students Run Philly Style adapted its sports-based model into the MileUp program, an innovative juvenile justice diversion opportunity for youth ages 11-17 facing misdemeanor or felony charges.
Runner-up: Bounce Back (New Orleans, LA); The Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies’ Bounce Back Collective harnesses the creativity, culture, and strengths of New Orleans youth to create spaces for healing, transformation, and community.
Runner-up: Travis County Transformation Project (Austin, TX); The Excellence and Advancement Foundation works with partners to run the Travis County Transformation Project and divert youth from the criminal legal system into a restorative justice program.

The Resilience Challenge winners were selected from a diverse cohort of 14 innovation teams, all of whom helped create a collaborative and supportive learning community for advancing children's and youth's mental health and well-being. Read the press release about the Resilience Challenge pilot and winners.

ICYMI: Readout of Deputy Assistant Secretary Meeting with Youth from USDA/NIFA/4-H

On May 2, 2024, staff from the HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) met with a group of youth from the USDA/NIFA/4-H organization and listened to their presentation on critical adolescent health issues and potential solutions to address these challenges.

A diverse group of fourteen youth from across the U.S., a collegiate facilitator, adult chaperones, USDA/NIFA and HHS staff gathered at the OASH conference center in the Tower Building in Rockville, Maryland. Deputy Assistant Secretary Jessica Swafford Marcella welcomed the youth, their chaperones, and federal staff. After the presentation, HHS staff posed questions to the youth presenters. The youth also had the opportunity to ask questions and meet informally with HHS staff.

OPA had provided a set of challenge questions related to adolescent health in advance, and the youth’s presentation responded to those challenge questions. It outlined key issues related to nutrition, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, and substance use, and suggested some ways that federal agencies could work to solve the problems they identified.

The meeting and presentation were part of the annual National 4-H conference held in Arlington, Virginia. During this conference, several groups of 4-H youth from around the country met with staff from federal agencies and delivered presentations in response to challenge questions related to each agency’s mission.

“Youth engagement and youth voice were critical to building Take Action for Adolescents ‒ A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Marcella. “We are so glad you could join us to share your thinking about the significant health challenges that face adolescents today and give us some suggestions on how to address them.”

ICYMI: Readout of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs visit to St. Louis, Missouri

On April 3, 2024, staff from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 7 and the HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) attended a youth rally sponsored by Better Family Life (a Teen Pregnancy Prevention program grantee) and participated in a roundtable discussion on adolescent health. More than 20 schools and 3,000 middle and high school youth from across St. Louis, MO and East St. Louis, IL gathered at the St. Louis University Chaifetz Arena for an inspiring youth empowerment rally. HHS Region 7 Director Joe Palm and Deputy Assistant Secretary Jessica Swafford Marcella attended the rally and DASPA Marcella spoke briefly to the young people.

Read the full press release about the visit to Missouri.

ICYMI: Readout of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs visit to Texas

On February 22, 2024, staff from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 6 and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), with the assistance of three Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) grant recipients, convened a roundtable discussion regarding adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Individuals from Healthy Futures of Texas, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston shared experiences from their programs and discussed staff safety, adolescent confidentiality, access to health care and other supportive services, and the role of the TPP program in supporting youth.

Read the full press release about the visit to Texas.

ICYMI: Readout of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs visit to Salt Lake City, Utah

On January 22, 2024, staff from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 8 and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), with the assistance of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, convened a roundtable discussion regarding the status of women’s health and reproductive health in the state. The HHS staff also visited West High School and learned about the upcoming opening of their school-based health clinic which will offer integrated primary and mental health care to over 7,000 students in the district.

“We met with stakeholders regarding women’s health and reproductive health on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade,” said HHS Region 8 Regional Director Lily Griego. “It was of utmost importance for us to highlight that, in the words of U.S. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, ‘from day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has made clear that women should have access to the healthcare they need, including contraception and other family planning services. [A]ccess to reproductive healthcare is a core priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.’”

Additionally, representatives from state and local health career providers and youth-serving agencies and organizations gathered at Voices for Utah Children in Salt Lake City for a Community Dialogue on Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being.

Read the full press release about the visit to Utah.

ICYMI: Readout of Admiral Levine’s Community Dialogue in Boise, Idaho

On January 19, 2024, representatives from state and local health care providers and youth-serving agencies and organizations gathered at the Terry Reilly Health Center in Nampa, Idaho for a Community Dialogue on the Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being. Admiral Rachel Levine, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health, joined OPA staff to provide an overview of Take Action for Adolescents.

“As a pediatrician and adolescent medicine sub-specialist, I have always had a strong interest in supporting, improving, and promoting the health of young people. Take Action for Adolescents is grounded in the idea that it is critically important to make sure that young people are thriving now, when they become adults, and in the future when many of them may be parents or guardians of the next generation,” said Admiral Rachel Levine, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health. “Ideally, the Call to Action will serve as a template for caring adults to collaborate with individuals and organizations in their communities to create programs that address the needs of the adolescents they serve and support. We hope you’ll join us in taking action for adolescents.”

Participants in the room and virtually discussed ways that their organizations could promote adolescent health and well-being; the expertise and resources they have to bring to that effort; which groups or organizations they want to build relationships with going forward; and which perspectives have historically been missing from the conversation.

Read the full press release about the community dialogue in Idaho and visit OPA’s Take Action for Adolescents page.

2023

HHS Issues Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being

October 31, 2023—HHS issued Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being a new effort to promote collaboration and spur action to improve the health and well-being of adolescents across the U.S.

Take Action for Adolescents outlines a vision, key principles, eight goals, and a set of initial action steps. It is research-based and was developed with extensive input from adult and youth allies and partners, including nationally recognized adolescent health experts. It is accompanied by a Take Action Toolkit with tips and resources to spur collaboration in states and communities.

This Call to Action is designed to motivate, energize, and inspire anyone who supports adolescents. The action steps are aligned with each goal and designated for policy makers, health care and human service providers and organizations, other youth-serving professionals and organizations, parents and other caregivers, and researchers. The action steps are a starting point for designing customized approaches that address the needs of young people in their communities.

Read the full press release about the Call to Action and visit OPA’s Take Action for Adolescents page.

2022 Family Planning Annual Report

September 28, 2023—Today, the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) is releasing the 2022 Family Planning Annual Report (FPAR). This FPAR presents data from all Title X family planning services grantees for purposes of monitoring and reporting program performance. In 2022, with new regulations and services restored in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and eight U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States, the Title X family planning network is showing an upward trend back to historic averages with 2.6 million family planning clients served.

For more than 50 years, Title X family planning clinics have played a critical role in ensuring access to a broad range of family planning and preventive health services for more than 194 million low-income or uninsured individuals, including breast and cervical cancer screening, contraceptive counseling and care, and STI/HIV testing. Title X 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.

Key findings from the 2022 FPAR include:

The Title X network has expanded to increase access and served almost 1 million more clients than in 2021.
Title X is a critical part of the safety net providing services to many clients with no insurance or low incomes.
Title X sites provide services to a racially and ethnically diverse population of clients.
Title X sites provide client-centered services by ensuring access to a broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods and services.
Title X-funded cervical cancer screening services are necessary for early detection and treatment.
Title X-funded STI and HIV services provide testing necessary for preventing disease transmission and adverse health consequences.

Read the full 2022 Family Planning Annual Report.

HHS Announces $350,000 for Innovative, Community-Led Solutions to Promote Resilience in Children and Youth

August 28, 2023—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $350,000, in Phase I prizes of $25,000 each to 14 finalists for their community-led solutions to promote resilience in children and adolescents under the HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge. Read the HHS blog about the Challenge and the prize-winning finalists.

Updated Findings from the HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review (TPPER)

July 5, 2023—Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has sponsored a systematic review of research on teen pregnancy prevention to identify programs with evidence of effectiveness in favorably having an impact on reducing (1) teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and (2) sexual risk behaviors. The HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review (TPPER) provides the results of the systematic review, and was created in response to the Congressional requirement that teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs eligible for replication in the TPP Program must be “proven effective through rigorous evaluation to reduce teenage pregnancy, behavioral risk factors underlying teenage pregnancy, or other associated risk factors.”

The TPPER is sponsored by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) within the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the Family and Youth Services Bureau within HHS’s Administration for Children and Families and identifies evidence-based program models that demonstrate behavioral outcomes for adolescents up to age 19.

In the first update since 2018, the release of the latest findings in 2023, the TPPER currently identifies 52 programs that meet the review criteria for evidence of effectiveness. These criteria require programs to show evidence of at least one favorable, statistically significant impact on at least one outcome of interest reflecting sexual behavior (for example, whether teens have ever had sex) or reproductive health (for example, teens’ sexual activity, number of sexual partners, contraceptive use, STIs or HIV, or pregnancy). In addition, the supporting research studies must meet established criteria for the quality and execution of their research designs. The review process includes three steps: 1) Screen available studies for inclusion criteria (for example, quantitative study, behavioral outcome, sample is 19 years old or younger); 2) Assess the quality of those studies (low, moderate, high); and 3) Assess the evidence in the moderate and high rated studies.

Learn more about the updated findings from the TPPER.

HHS Launches the Children and Youth Resilience Challenge

May 4, 2023—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the launch of a $1 million Children and Youth Resilience Challenge. The HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge will fund innovative community-led solutions to promote resilience in children and adolescents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters. Read the full press release to learn more about the Challenge.

Statements by Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs Jessica Marcella for National Adolescent Health Month

May 1, 2023—To mark the start of May and National Adolescent Health Month™(NAHM™), Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs and Office of Adolescent Health Director Jessica Marcella released statements. Read these statements and visit OPA's NAHM page.

National Adolescent Health Month™ (NAHM™) 2023: Information Coming Soon

March 2, 2023—May is National Adolescent Health Month™ (NAHM™). This annual observance emphasizes the importance of building on young people’s strengths and potential, encouraging meaningful youth engagement in adolescent health activities, and highlighting key topics in adolescent health. Adolescent health involves many aspects of health and well-being, including sexual and reproductive health, mental health, community support, and the role of caring adults. NAHM’s four weekly themes explore all of these aspects of adolescent health. More information, social media posts and graphics, and other resources are coming soon!

2022

Readout of DASPA Visits Title X Family Planning Grantee in Rhode Island

July 7, 2022—Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs (DAS) and Director of HHS Office of Population Affairs and HHS Office of Adolescent Health Jessica Swafford Marcella visited Warwick, Rhode Island to meet with staff of the Thundermist Health Center (THC) and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). THC is a Title X family planning program service site and part of the RIDOH's Title X Family Planning Services project. In addition to touring the clinic and speaking with THC leadership, DAS Marcella attended a community meeting with Rhode Island Title X Network participants and partner organizations to discuss the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision on their ability to continue to provide reproductive health care.

Readout of DASPA Visits Title X Family Planning Grantees in Boston

July 1, 2022—Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs (DAS) and Director of the HHS Office of Population Affairs and HHS Office of Adolescent Health Jessica Swafford Marcella visited Boston to meet with the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Marylou Sudders, Commissioner Margret Cooke, several staff of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), and Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD). Both MDPH and ABCD are Title X family planning program grantees. MDPH is a state agency that operates a Title X service network consisting of 81 clinics run by 16 organizations in at least 36 high-priority communities in seven regions across the state of Massachusetts. ABCD is a community action agency that serves low-income populations in Greater Boston as well as Central, North, South, and Western Massachusetts. During the visit MDPH and ABCD program leadership spoke to DAS Marcella about accessible reproductive health services in historically underserved communities and the work the Commonwealth is doing to protect access to reproductive health.

HHS Launches Website for Reproductive Health Care Information

June 25, 2022—Reproductive health care is an essential part of health and well-being. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is committed to providing accurate and up-to-date information about access to and coverage of reproductive health care. HHS launched Know Your Rights: Reproductive Health Care to provide this information and resources on access to and insurance coverage of reproductive health care.

Readout of DASPA Visits Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs in New York

June 15, 2022—Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs (DAS) and Director of the HHS Office of Population Affairs and HHS Office of Adolescent Health Jessica Swafford Marcella visited New York City to meet with the staff of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) and the Fund for Public Health in New York. Both PPGNY and the Fund for Public Health in New York are HHS-funded Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program grantees. PPGNY program leadership emphasized to Marcella the importance of expanding access to high-quality programs to improve outcomes for adolescents. PPGNY implements two TPP grant programs, Project STIQ (Supporting Teens in Queens to Promote Sexual Health) and Project SHINE.

Readout of DASPA Visits Family Planning Clinic in Texas

June 13, 2022—Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs and Director of the Offices of Population Affairs and Adolescent Health Jessica Swafford Marcella visited Houston, Texas to meet with the staff of Every Body Texas, a Title X family planning grantee, and one of their Title X providers, Legacy Community Health. During the visit, Marcella spoke with the Every Body Texas leadership about the need for reproductive health services in underserved communities and the impact of the Texas SB 8 law. Marcella invited participants to recommend specific actions that HHS could take to improve equity in and access to family planning services.

Celebrating National Adolescent Health Month

May 4, 2022—Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs and Director of the Office of Adolescent Health Jessica Swafford Marcella announced the renaming of OPA's May observance as National Adolescent Health Month (NAHM). Read about why the observance was renamed, the process OPA used to gather feedback, and how OPA will celebrate NAHM in the HHS blog post.

Statements by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs Jessica Marcella on the Inaugural National Adolescent Health Month

May 3, 2022—To start the month of May, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs Jessica Marcella released statements to mark the first-ever National Adolescent Health Month (NAHM). This month-long observance will address the following weekly themes: 1) empower youth with sexual and reproductive health information and services, 2) support mental health and well-being, 3) encourage physical health and healthy decision-making, and 4) sustain equitable, accessible, and youth-friendly services

Read the statements on NAHM in the full HHS press release and get more information and resources for NAHM from OPA.

2021

HHS Announces $35 Million for Telehealth in the Title X Family Planning Program

November 23, 2021—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of $35 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to enhance and expand the telehealth infrastructure and capacity of Title X family planning providers. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services in communities across the United States.

HHS Announces $256 Million to Expand Access to Equitable and Affordable Title X Family Planning Services

October 27, 2021—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of up to $256 million in grant funding to support equitable, affordable, client-centered, and high-quality family planning services through the Title X family planning program. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services in communities across the United States.

HHS Issues Final Regulation Aimed at Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services

October 4, 2021—Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule to strengthen the Title X family planning program, fulfilling the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to restore access to equitable, affordable, client-centered, quality family planning services. The final rule, “Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services” realigns the nation’s family planning program with nationally recognized standards of care, reinforces the program’s emphasis on quality, equity, and dignity for all individuals who seek Title X services, and modernizes the more than 50-year old program to better reflect the current health care system. This new rule replaces the 2019 Title X Rule, reversing the Trump administration’s changes to the program.

2020 Family Planning Annual Report

September 20, 2021—Today, the HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) released its 2020 Family Planning Annual Report (FPAR). The Title X family planning program is the only federal program dedicated solely to supporting the delivery of family planning and related preventive health care. Annual submission of the FPAR is required of all Title X services grantees. The FPAR provides grantee-level data on the demographic and social characteristics of Title X clients, clients’ use of family planning and related preventive health services, staffing, and revenue. FPAR data have multiple uses including monitoring performance and compliance with statutory requirements, fulfilling federal accountability and performance reporting requirements, and guiding strategic and financial planning. OPA also uses FPAR data to estimate the impact of Title X on key reproductive health outcomes.

The FPAR presents the national-, regional-, and state-level findings for the calendar-year reporting period and trends for selected measures. The Title X program experienced a significant decline in the number of clients served in 2020. The findings from the 2019 FPAR showed a significant drop in the number of clients served in 2019 following implementation of the 2019 final rule. The 2020 FPAR data continue to show the same downward trend with a significant decline in the number of clients served in 2020. The total number of clients served dropped to 1.5 million in 2020 – down from 3.9 million in 2018 and 3.1 million in 2019. This graphic illustrates the downward trend in the number of clients served in the Title X Network from 2015 to 2020.

Additionally, based on analysis of FPAR data, it is estimated that the 2019 Title X Final Rule accounted for 58 percent of the decrease in Title X clients (901,583 clients) and the COVID-19 pandemic accounted for 42 percent (or 657,340 clients) of the decrease reported in 2020.

Read the full 2020 Family Planning Annual Report.

Funding to Support Increased Need for Family Planning Services as a Result of TX SB8

September 20, 2021—The HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) announced two funding actions to address the expected increased demand for emergency contraception and other Title X family planning services as a result of Texas Law SB8. SB8, which took effect on September 1, 2021, prohibits a physician from performing or inducing an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected.

In preparation for this anticipated demand for family planning services in Texas, and given Every Body Texas’ experience providing Title X family planning services across the state, OPA is granting a single-source supplemental grant award in October to Every Body Texas to enable the grantee to expand provision of emergency contraception and other family planning services to clients across the state through their existing Title X network.

The action in Texas is just one of many needs that drives an increased demand for family planning services that may exceed the current capacity of an impacted Title X provider network. OPA announced funds available specifically to support public and private nonprofit entities that are experiencing an increase in demand for family planning services to enable them to expand provision of emergency contraception and other family planning services to meet the increased demand both within and outside of the state. See the funding opportunity forecast for more information.

Fact Sheet: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services

May 18, 2021—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a new rule to revise the Title X family planning program regulations. The comment period for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), entitled “Ensuring access to equitable, affordable, client-centered, quality family planning services” closed on May 17, 2021. All comments on the proposed rule received by the deadline are under review.

Office of Population Affairs Statement on Proposed Revision of Title X Regulations

March 18, 2021—On January 28, 2021, President Biden issued a “Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad,” directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review the 2019 Title X Final Rule and “consider, as soon as practicable, whether to suspend, revise, or rescind, or publish for notice and comment proposed rules suspending, revising, or rescinding, those regulations, consistent with applicable law, including the Administrative Procedure Act.”¹ HHS conducted an extensive review and consideration of the 2019 Title X Final Rule (84 Fed. Reg. 7714) pursuant to this Presidential memorandum. The memorandum specifically directed HHS to ensure that undue restrictions are not put on the use of federal funds or on women’s access to medical information.

After reviewing the 2019 rule, HHS plans to propose revised regulations substantively similar to those issued in 2000 (65 Fed. Reg. 41270), under which the program operated successfully for years, with a few definitional updates that account for minor operational changes over the past 20 years. HHS is working on promulgating a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), and it expects to have this NPRM published in the Federal Register no later than April 15, 2021. HHS will review and carefully consider all comments submitted in response to this NPRM and plans to have any Title X Final Rule in place by early fall and effective in time for the Fiscal Year 2022 funding announcement, which is expected to be issued in December 2021.

¹ Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad, The White House (Jan. 28, 2021), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/28/memorandum-on-protecting-womens-health-at-home-and-abroad/.