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The department's Teen Pregnancy Prevention program
provides grants to community agencies to reduce teenage pregnancy
and sexually transmitted diseases and the incidence of HIV/AIDS.
Earlier this year, Blagojevich announced that the number of babies
born to Illinois teenagers continued a nine-year decline, falling to
a record low of 9.7 percent in 2003.
"The fact that there are fewer teens having babies
tells us that the state's prevention messages are being heard," the
governor said. "Still, there are some communities with higher rates
of teen births, and we're working with the Department of Human
Services and local agencies to focus our efforts on those areas with
the highest need for prevention."
DHS Secretary Carol L. Adams, Ph.D., added,
"Preventing teen pregnancy is an important health goal because teen
moms and their babies face more health risks because they are less
likely to receive regular prenatal care, more likely to smoke when
pregnant and more likely to have a low-birth-weight infant, all of
which are factors in infant deaths and poor health outcomes."
The department's Teen Pregnancy Prevention
program is designed to enhance and focus collaborative relationships
among community partners, enabling them to plan local strategies to
enrich primary pregnancy prevention, improve access to health
services for adolescents and increase the role of the schools in
improving adolescent health. The program components focus on
sexuality education, family planning information and referral, male
involvement, parental involvement, youth development, and public
awareness.
The reduction in teen births by race in the past
decade was greatest among African-Americans, with a 40 percent
decline. Among whites, teen births fell 36 percent, while Hispanic
teen births rose 7 percent in the past 10 years, from 5,085 in 1994
to 5,437 in 2003.
"Teen pregnancy clearly remains a serious problem,
with long-lasting economic, social and personal costs for teens,
their children and society, and we are committed to continuing our
efforts," Adams continued. "These grants were selected based on
their proposals for serving the specific needs of their
communities."
The Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants were funded
through a proposal request process as part of the department's
initiative to maximize accountability and excellence in order to
increase the amount of contract money that is competitively bid and
to place more state funding in areas of greatest need.
Also on June 28, Gov. Blagojevich proclaimed Health
Care Month for July in the state of Illinois, launching a month-long
effort to expand, improve and promote access to health care for
Illinois families. During the month of July, the governor will sign
new laws designed to improve access to health care for working
families and seniors, enact meaningful medical malpractice reform,
ease the nursing shortage, provide hospitals with nearly $2 billion
in new federal funds, help senior citizens afford the high cost of
prescription drugs, increase critical cancer screening for women,
raise awareness about various diseases, and increase funding for
diabetes research. ["Blagojevich launches 'July is Health Care
Month' --
Governor focusing month ahead on improving and expanding access to
health care"]
Making sure that more
people get more health care and better benefits, protecting coverage
for those who have health care, and helping hospitals, doctors and
nurses provide better health care are some of the governor's top
priorities. Specifically:
Since Blagojevich took office, 313,000 more
men, women and children have received health care through the
KidCare and FamilyCare programs -- at a time when most states are
not only not providing more coverage for the working poor,
but also kicking people off Medicaid or significantly reducing
their benefits. This year's budget included funding to add another
56,000 men, women and children. The Kaiser Foundation has ranked
Illinois the best state in the nation for providing health care to
people who need it.
One of only a handful of states to protect
Medicaid recipients: The budget signed by Blagojevich a few
weeks ago ensures -- for the third consecutive year, despite
facing budget deficits -- that Medicaid recipients maintain their
health care, unlike states ranging from Missouri to Tennessee to
Texas to Washington that are either kicking people off Medicaid or
significantly reducing benefits.
First state to develop a statewide small business
health insurance pool and program: Blagojevich and the
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce are developing a small-business
health insurance program that will help small businesses reduce
their costs by 10 percent to 15 percent and provide more health
care for their employees. Illinois will be the first state to
create a pool that businesses of 50 or fewer employees can join,
saving money on the negotiated rate, administrative costs and
broker fees.
First state to make prescription drugs from Europe
and Canada available: Under Blagojevich, Illinois became the
first state to allow its citizens to purchase prescription drugs
from Europe and Canada. More than 10,000 people have enrolled in
the last few months alone to take advantage of lower prices (25
percent to 50 percent less) for over 120 name-brand prescription
drugs.
Most comprehensive state response to fill in gaps
in the federal prescription drug benefit: This spring, the
General Assembly passed the governor's No Senior Left Behind
legislation, which is Illinois' response to the federal Medicare
prescription drug benefit. Because of the major holes in the
federal program, the governor's plan fills in the gaps, so
Illinois seniors will not suffer the same fate that face seniors
in other states.
[to top of second column in this article] |
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First state to require pharmacists to dispense
female contraceptives: In April, Blagojevich issued an
emergency rule requiring pharmacists whose pharmacies sell
contraception to dispense birth control to women with valid
prescriptions. The governor's emergency rule will become permanent
this summer. In addition, the state will soon launch a new website
to help women know which insurers now cover contraceptives,
helping hundreds of thousands of women save an average of $400 per
year on the cost of their contraceptives.
-
Improving women's health programs: Blagojevich
created the Illinois Healthy Women program to provide health care
to women who otherwise would go without. To date, the program has
served more than 90,000 women. In addition, Illinois has
dramatically increased the number of mammograms and cervical
cancer screenings since Blagojevich took office.
-
Accessing nearly $2 billion in new federal health
care money: This summer, Blagojevich will sign the hospital
assessment legislation, which means nearly $2 billion in new
federal funding for Illinois hospitals. Last year, the governor
persuaded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to
approve a plan that meant nearly $500 million in new federal funds
for Illinois hospitals. This plan, which requires federal approval
but was constructed with their guidelines in mind, means more than
three times that amount.
-
Medical malpractice reform: This summer,
Blagojevich will sign major medical malpractice reform
legislation, which will reduce the cost of insurance premiums for
doctors and stop doctors from leaving the state. Blagojevich
helped pass the legislation despite his personal opposition to
caps, because making sure that people have access to health care
is probably the most important function government performs.
-
Reducing the nursing shortage: This summer,
Blagojevich will sign a package of bills aimed at reducing the
nursing shortage in Illinois, including making it easier for
foreign nurses to practice in Illinois. The state also eliminated
the nurses' registration backlog this April and increased the
amount available in grants for nurses training. This fulfills the
initiative launched by the governor in his State of the State
address to reduce the nursing shortage.
Department of Human Services
Division of Community Health and Prevention
Teen Pregnancy Prevention -- primary program
Fiscal 2006 awards
|
Program |
City |
Amount |
|
Adams County Health Department |
Quincy |
$35,000 |
|
ASPIRA Inc. of Illinois |
Chicago |
80,000 |
|
Aunt Martha's Youth Service Center |
Chicago Heights |
60,000 |
|
Bethany for Children and Families |
Moline |
80,000 |
|
Casa Central |
Chicago |
65,000 |
|
Children's Home Association of Illinois |
Peoria |
80,000 |
|
Cook County Department of Public Health |
Oak Park |
80,000 |
|
Erie Family Health Center |
Chicago |
40,000 |
|
Family Focus Aurora |
Aurora |
60,000 |
|
Family Focus Lawndale |
Chicago |
90,000 |
|
Fayette County Health Department |
Vandalia |
50,000 |
|
Franklin-Williamson Human Services Inc. |
West Frankfort |
60,000 |
|
FORUM |
Chicago |
70,000 |
|
Fulton County Health Department |
Canton |
67,000 |
|
Greater DuPage MYM Inc. |
Glen Ellyn |
50,000 |
|
Healthcare Alternative Systems Inc. |
Chicago |
70,000 |
|
Hoyleton Youth and Family Services |
Washington Park |
40,000 |
|
Human Resource Development Institute |
Chicago |
50,000 |
|
Jersey County Health Department |
Jerseyville |
16,000 |
|
Kankakee County Health Department |
Kankakee |
40,000 |
|
Knox County Health Department |
Galesburg |
33,000 |
|
Lake County Health Department and Community
Health Center |
Waukegan |
80,000 |
|
Macoupin County Health Department |
Girard |
25,000 |
|
Methodist Youth Services Inc. |
Chicago |
60,000 |
|
MGR Foundation |
Chicago |
34,700 |
|
Morgan County Health Department |
Jacksonville |
23,400 |
|
Mujeres Latinas en Accion |
Chicago |
70,000 |
|
Pilsen Little Village Community Mental Health
Center |
Chicago |
70,000 |
|
Planned Parenthood of Decatur |
Decatur |
47,700 |
|
Sangamon County Health Department |
Springfield |
45,000 |
|
Southern Seven Heath Department |
Ullin |
85,000 |
|
St. Clair County Health Department |
Belleville |
80,000 |
|
Tazewell County Health Department |
Tremont |
41,000 |
|
Winnebago County Health Department |
Rockford |
90,000 |
|
Youth Guidance |
Chicago |
80,000 |
|
Total -- 35 agencies |
|
$2,047,800 |
Grant disbursements will begin in July.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
