Qtungress at the matter] ?tates Washington, 36 20515 July 25, 2017 The Honorable Thomas E. Price Secretary US. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201 Dear Secretary Price: We write today to request an explanation as to the recent decision within your agency to shorten the project period of the Of?ce of Adolescent Health?s (OAH) Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program from ?ve years to three years. This decision, made before Congress has ?nalized ?scal year (FY) 2018 funding, would be a blow to bipartisan efforts to prevent unplanned teen pregnancies. We are deeply concerned by this decision and are requesting a timely and comprehensive explanation. Since Congress established in 2010, this unique and innovative program has served more than a million young people, trained more than 7,000 professionals, and supported partnerships among more than 3,000 community-based organizations across the country. Grounded in evidence and committed to quality implementation, evaluation and innovation, has supported a local approach to the healthy development of young people and has proven to support young people adept sexual health behaviors that help them avoid unintended pregnancy. Additionally, Congress provided ?Jll funding of $101 million for and an additional $6.8 million in evaluation transfer authority just three months ago in the ?nal FY 2017 funding bill. Therefore, it is puzzling why this Administration has chosen to disrupt the progress of the existing ?ve-year cooperative agreement projects. We are gravely concerned that more than 80 grantees have been noti?ed that their work will end on June 30, 2018 instead of June 30, 2020 as originally designed, awarded, and implemented. Further, the ?ve Capacity Building Assistance grantees were noti?ed that their funding would end effectively immediately as of June 30, 2017. This means that the 33 state-wide projects currently in Operation will have to cut short their local investments and efforts serving the most marginalized young people without the support previously provided by the Capacity Building Assistance teams. PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPEH The negative impacts of this unnecessary decision cannot be overstated. At a time when young people are most in need of information and education to~protect their sexual and reproductive health, this Administration is denying evidence and science. Young peOple deserve better. The shortening of the project period in the middle of the ongoing work will have a ripple effect across communities. In addition to hurting the young people currently participating in programs and the 600,000 young people who would have been served through the remaining years of the projects, this decision will mean fewer jobs, fewer trained professionals, and reduced partnerships in communities all across the country. With these devastating impacts in mind, we request an explanation of the decision and an explanation addressing the following questions within 45 days: 1. By whom and when was the decision made to shorten the cooperative agreements by two years? 2. Why was the noti?cation to end grants made in advance of Congress determining ?nal FY 2018 appropriations? 3. How did the decision consider and justify the burden and adverse impact for young people being served, the professionals and partnerships, and their communities? 4. How did the decision consider and justify the additional capacity, staff, and resource burden of administering new grant competitions? 5. What is the Department?s intent if Congress appropriates funding for FY 2018? Namely, will current grantees be allowed to continue their projects and if not, what does HHS plan to do with FY 2018 funding? In the absence of consistent, quality, foundational school-based sex education across the country, the programs supported by are critical in supporting vulnerable young peeple. It is our collective responsibility to ensure the health of our nation?s most marginalized youth. Sadly, this recent action runs counter to our shared responsibility. We look forward to your timely response. Sincerely, I . . WI- oyd ggett Michelle Lujan Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Marc VeasEy Member of Congress ongress Member of . we Bonamici Robert A. Brady uli Brownlei? ember of Congress Member of Congress Me ber 0f Congress MM Earl Blumenauer ichael E. Capuano Salud O. Carbajal Member of Congress Member of Congres Member of Congress K5941: Kathy Cagtor Mid N. Cicilline Member of Congress Member of Congress tte D. Clarke Wm. Lacy Cl Member of Congress Member of C0 55 ?x 0 anna Member of Congress . Conyers, Jr. ber of Congress '5 Peter A. DeFazi Diana DeGette Member of Congress Member of Congress Mark DeSagier Member of Congress Luis V. Guti? ember of Congress Member of gress [If dull/A. 14 :l Mike Doyle Keith llison Eli H. Esty Member of Co ress Mem er of Congress Me of Congress Bill Foster Lois Frankel Marcia L. Fudge Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress uben Gallego A Green Gene Green Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress it Colleen abusa A cee L. Hastings Member of ongress ember of Congress rian Higgins Member of Congress oris Matsui Eddie Bernice Johnsvon Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress aja K?shnamdorthi ember of Congress Ruben J. Kihuen Alma Adams Member of Congress Member of Congress mber of Congress onald McEachin Sander . vin es P. McGovern Member of Congress Membe ongress ember of Congress C7 ed 0m Ted W. Lieu ?ave Ll?sack ofgre?'" Member of Congress Member of Congress mber of Con res Rosa eLauro Eliot L. Engel can a Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress 5a.? 70" ?'mm Carolyn B. Maloney Betty lum Gregory W. Meeks Member of Congress Member of ongress Member of Congress 5 Mid/W errold Nadler Member of Congress Moore Member Of Congress Member of Congress 9w MWA. ?x [crawler/m? Cace F. Napolit?no Ami Bera, M. D. Eleanor Holmes Norton Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Elk/A 0 Q0 w. 01? Beto O'Rourke Mike Thompson Kat rine Clark Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress git H. Peters hellie Pingree Member of Congrv Member of Congress Member of Congress Donald S. Beyer Mike Quigleg Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress ie Ras athleen M. R1 I osen mber of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Bobby LErEush David E. Price ySchakowsky Member of Congress Member of Congress ember of Congress Bradley Schneider David Scott Member of Congress Member of Congress Ro ert y" Scott Terri A. Sewell Carol Shea-Porter Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Adam Smith Member of Congress Lisa glunt Rochester Member of Congress Dina Titus Niki Tsongas Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress an Vargas ick en TonyC denas ember of Congress Member of Congress Mem of Congress Pete Aguilar T'gothy ?2 Debbie Wasserman Schultz Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Suzan lBene Andre Carson Henry Cuellar Memb of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Bonnie Watson Coleman Member of Congress Member of Congress 44/4 WW W4 Nydi M. Velazquez {WMatt Cartwright ber of Congress Member of Congress Alan Lowenthal . Member of Congress Member of Co gress hn B. arson om O'Hallera mber of Congress Member of Congress lember of Congress 5 i . Adriano Espaillat Brenda Lawrence Member of Congress Member of Congress {Silharn R. Keating 3 Paul Tonko Kurt Schr?er Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress 8 Daniel T. Kildee Fr Linda T. S?nchez Pallone, Jr. Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Peter Welch 1? Brendan F. Boyle a Member of Congress Member of Congress WW Frederica S. Wilson John Yarl'ruth ngress Member of Congress Member of Congress 44110 quin Castro Joe Courtney Member of Congress ber of Congress Member of Congress 15W John K. Delaney?L aren Bass Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Cedric Richmond Donald Norcross Brad Sherman Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Marcy Ka Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan Member of Congress Member of Congress 9 Ed Perh?utter Member of Congress Ii}