Democrats Further Scrutinize Trump-Pence Administration Following Repeated Attempts to Undermine Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

Sen. Murray and Rep. Lee lead Democrats in questioning Secretary Azar over Health Department’s administration of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

Multiple court rulings have thwarted the Trump-Pence administration’s efforts to dismantle, undermine, and alter programs focused on helping reduce teen pregnancy

Attempted changes would have skewed program away from evidence-based practices and toward ideological goals

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, led by Senator Patty Murray, (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Democratic members of the House and Senate sent letters to Secretary Alex Azar at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), questioning the Department’s administration of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), a key program supporting evidence-based approaches to reducing teen pregnancy. The letters come as the Trump-Pence administration has repeatedly attempted to dismantle, undermine, and alter the program—efforts that have already been thwarted in court multiple times.

In their letter to Secretary Azar, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), joined by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) wrote:

“We write to express our concern about the Trump Administration’s ongoing attempts to undermine the evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP). The TPPP is a key contributor to the body of evidence on how to best support adolescents to prevent unintended pregnancies, and is making a positive difference in the lives of young people… By attempting to direct funding in accordance with ideological goals, rather than towards the development of evidence-based practices, the Trump-Pence Administration is undoing years of progress towards supporting adolescent sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing.”

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), joined by Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Congressman Marc Veasey (D-TX), sent a similar letter to the Secretary on the issue, writing:

“We write to express our concern about ongoing attempts to undermine the evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) and the recent announcement by the administration to direct funds from TPPP grants to organizations that promote abstinence-only education. The TPPP is making a vital contribution to building a body of knowledge of what best supports adolescents to prevent unintended pregnancy, at a time when there is growing bipartisan commitment to evidence-based policymaking. The September 2017 unanimously-agreed-to-report from the bipartisan Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, established by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray, highlighted TPPP as an example of a program that is developing an increasingly rigorous portfolio of evidence.”

The text of the Senate letter is below and the PDF is available HERE:

The text of the House letter is further below and the PDF is available HERE.

December 19, 2018

The Honorable Alex M. Azar II

Secretary

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Azar,

We write to express our concern about the Trump Administration’s ongoing attempts to undermine the evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP). The TPPP is a key contributor to the body of evidence on how to best support adolescents to prevent unintended pregnancies, and is making a positive difference in the lives of young people.[1] The current program is also reflective of a bipartisan commitment to evidence-based policymaking. The September 2017 report from the bipartisan Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking highlighted TPPP as an example of a program that is developing an increasingly rigorous portfolio of evidence.[2] By attempting to direct funding in accordance with ideological goals, rather than towards the development of evidence-based practices, the Trump-Pence Administration is undoing years of progress towards supporting adolescent sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing.

To date, efforts to dismantle or fundamentally alter TPPP have been ruled in violation of the law by numerous courts. These actions include the decision to unilaterally terminate all TPPP grants two years early; four separate federal courts found this decision unlawful. Additionally, the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), which administers TPPP, issued two Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for Tier 1 and Tier 2 grants on April 20, 2018. The Tier 1 FOA was ruled by two federal judges to be in violation of the appropriations language that establishes the parameters for TPPP.

Given the Trump-Pence Administration’s repeated attempts to fundamentally alter or end this evidence-based work despite a clear message from the courts that such efforts are incompatible with the law, we remain concerned about the ongoing administration of this program. We therefore respectfully request answers to the questions below by January 4, 2019.

On September 26, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) released a statement announcing it would not be issuing $19.4 million in Tier 1 grants because of the court orders invalidating the Tier 1 FOA.[3] Please specify how HHS spent the $19.4 million in FY2018 funding, or otherwise obligated the funds, and how the use of this money meets the requirements of the governing appropriations language.

On November 3, 2017, HHS announced that it was initiating “a new research and evaluation collaboration to support and improve teen pregnancy prevention and sexual risk avoidance programs” and that this effort would be “funded from a variety of sources including available funds set aside for support and evaluation within the HHS Office of Adolescent Health.”[4]

How much of the $101 million appropriated for TPPP in FY2018 and the $6.8 million for “evaluation of teen pregnancy prevention approaches” from the evaluation transfer authority is being used for this initiative?
If funds other than those appropriated for TPPP are being used, please detail specifically how much, from what source, and how they are being used.

Shortly after the court rulings that HHS could not issue grants based on their new Tier 1 FOA, the HHS Office of the Secretary awarded $21,512,108 to the MITRE Corporation for a “Teen Pregnancy Prevention Study.”[5] According to USASpending.gov, the federal obligation for the awards totals $29,551,986 for the continuation of a prior award and a new award for “supplemental agreement for work within scope” to be performed through September 30, 2020. The Department’s issuance of these new awards raises questions about how they are funded, particularly whether any of the funding is derived from the funding appropriated to the TPPP. Additionally, it raises questions about why the Department is awarding contracts for work that seems similar in scope to the TPPP.

Please provide a copy of the “supplemental agreement for work within scope.”
What funding streams, and from what fiscal years, are supporting the contracts with MITRE Corporation?
What are the specific tasks and activities of each contract and their associated timelines?
Were the funds awarded to MITRE in September 2018 pursuant to competitive contract procedures?
Out of what funding stream was Be Strong International, Inc. awarded a $300,000 sub-award from the MITRE contract on November 15, 2018?
Did Be Strong International, Inc. compete for that award? If so, please describe the competitive process used for the award.
What evidence standards were relied upon to justify the new contracts?
Will the new activities be held to the same rigorous standards of evidence applied to previous TPPP programmatic and evaluation efforts?

The FY2019 appropriations bill that was signed into law on September 28, 2018 contains identical TPPP language to FY2018 appropriations. Given the court rulings, will HHS award continuation funds to the 2015 Tier 1 and Tier 2 TPPP grantees?

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions, or would like to further discuss compliance with this request, please contact Elizabeth Letter or Lisa Bernhardt with Senator Murray’s staff at (202) 224-0767.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray
United States Senator

Tammy Baldwin

United States Senator

Cory Booker
United States Senator

Mazie Hirono
United States Senator

December 19, 2018

The Honorable Secretary Alex Azar

Secretary

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Azar,

We write to express our concern about ongoing attempts to undermine the evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) and the recent announcement by the administration to direct funds from TPPP grants to organizations that promote abstinence-only education.

The TPPP is making a vital contribution to building a body of knowledge of what best supports adolescents to prevent unintended pregnancy, at a time when there is growing bipartisan commitment to evidence-based policymaking. The September 2017 unanimously-agreed-to-report from the bipartisan Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, established by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray, highlighted TPPP as an example of a program that is developing an increasingly rigorous portfolio of evidence.[1]

To date, efforts to dismantle or fundamentally alter TPPP have been ruled by numerous courts to be in violation of the law. These attempts include the decision to unilaterally terminate all TPPP grants two years early, which was subsequently overruled by four separate federal courts. Additionally, the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), which administers TPPP, issued two Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for Tier 1 and Tier 2 grants on April 20, 2018. However, the Tier 1 FOA was ruled by two federal judges to be in violation of the appropriations language that sets the parameters for TPPP. Given these ongoing and repeated attempts to fundamentally alter or end current and future evidence-based projects, we remain concerned about the future administration of this program. We therefore respectfully request answers to the questions below by December 31, 2018.

On September 26, 2018 HHS issued a statement[2] announcing $19.4 million in Tier 1 grants it intended to award but could not under the Tier 1 FOA that was deemed to not comply with the TPPP appropriations language. Please specify how HHS spent the $19.4 million in FY2018 funding, or otherwise obligated the funds, and how the use of this money comports with the governing appropriations language.

On November 3, 2017 HHS announced[3] that it was initiating “a new research and evaluation collaboration to support and improve teen pregnancy prevention and sexual risk avoidance programs” and that this effort would be “funded from a variety of sources including available funds set aside for support and evaluation within the HHS Office of Adolescent Health.”

How much of the $101 million appropriated for TPPP in FY2018 and the $6.8 million evaluation transfer authority for “evaluation of teen pregnancy prevention approaches” is being used for this initiative?
If FY2018 funds are being used, please detail specifically how they are being used, and how this use complies with appropriations language governing TPPP and the evaluation funds.

Shortly after the court rulings that HHS could not issue grants based on their new FOA, the HHS Office of the Secretary awarded $21,512,108 to the MITRE Corporation for a “Teen Pregnancy Prevention Study.”[4] According to USASpending.gov, the federal obligation for the awards totals $29,551,986 for the continuation of a prior award and a new award for “supplemental agreement for work within scope” to be performed through September 30, 2020.[4] The Department’s issuance of these new awards raises questions about how they are funded, particularly whether any of the funding is derived from the funding appropriated to the TPPP. Additionally, it raises questions about why the Department is awarding contracts for work that seems similar in scope to the TPPP.

Please provide a copy of the “supplemental agreement for work within scope.”
What funding streams, and from what fiscal years, are supporting the contracts and transactions to MITRE Corporation?
What are the specific tasks and activities of each contract and their associated timelines?
Were the funds awarded to MITRE in September 2018 pursuant to competitive contract procedures?
Out of what funding stream was Be Strong International, Inc. awarded a $300,000 sub-award from the MITRE contract on November 15, 2018 and did the organization compete for this award?
What evidence standards were relied upon to justify the new contracts?
Will the new activities be held to the same rigorous standards of evidence applied to previous TPPP programmatic and evaluation efforts?

Finally, the FY2019 appropriations bill that was signed into law on September 28, 2018 (P.L. No. 115-245) contains identical TPPP language to FY2018 appropriations. Given court rulings, will HHS award continuation funds to the 2015 Tier 1 and Tier 2 TPPP grantees?

We look forward to your prompt reply to these questions.

Sincerely,

Barbara Lee

Member of Congress

Lloyd Doggett
Member of Congress

Michelle Lujan Grisham

Member of Congress

Ted Deutch

Member of Congress

Pramila Jayapal

Member of Congress

Marc Veasey

Member of Congress