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The City of San Antonio faces some difficult decisions as city council members review a proposed budget in a time when tax revenue continues to decrease. Texas Public Radio’s Terry Gildea reports that one of the biggest cuts would gut a city program that works in the community to reduce teen pregnancy.
August 25, 2009 · When one first glances at the city’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, it looks pretty good. Essential services would remain intact and no firemen or police officers would lose their jobs. But one of the biggest cuts would be a drastic reduction in funding for Project WORTH. It is a city program more than a decade old that educates teens about unintended pregnancy though outreach in San Antonio schools and through media campaigns on local radio stations.
Project WORTH stands for " Working on Real Teen Health." The proposed budget would reduce the program by two thirds and eliminate two of its three jobs effectively eliminating outreach programs in San Antonio schools. Dr. Janet Realini created the program when she worked with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, but now works for Healthy Futures, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing teen pregnancy. She says Project WORTH won’t be able to survive such a drastic cut.
“This cut that is so much of the program will eliminate the positions of the people who can actually go into the schools and the agencies and deliver the education that really helps young people make the decisions that will help them graduate, stay in school, and postpone becoming parents until they’re ready,” said Realini.
Realini says Project WORTH has made a tangible difference in reducing the number of unintended pregnancy in San Antonio over the last decade, but the city and state still rank substantially above the national average.
“It’s a concern that while we’re making this progress and San Antonio is still so much higher than the national rate, so much higher than average, that now is not the time to back off on effective efforts. We know what works to help reduce teen pregnancy,” said Realini.
But as the city faces a drastic drop in tax revenue, reducing teen pregnancy may not be its top priority. District 2 Councilwoman Ivy Taylor says she’s seen the benefits of Project WORTH in the community, but she’s not sure if the city can keep funding it at its current level.
“Maybe we could make a cut, but not as substantial, and look at balancing in some other places, because, like I said, we just really need to think about the long term impact as well, not just short term,” said Taylor.
Taylor says she hasn’t made a decision on whether she will support current budget proposal. She’s meeting with people from her district to find out what is most important to them. She supports what Project WORTH has accomplished, but she says trying to keep it completely intact could be a tough sell.
“Streets, drainage, fire, police; those types of things are really the crux of what the city provides. In some people's minds, it’s hard to make that leap between a program like Project WORTH and other things that the city should be doing,” said Taylor.
Senator Leticia Van de Putte has been spent her entire career as a state lawmaker trying to reduce teen pregnancy in Texas.
“Project WORTH is critically important and it will impact financially the city in years to come,” said Van de Putte.
Her biggest concern is not that the state has a high rate of teen pregnancy, but that Texas ranks number one in repeat teen pregnancy.
“We were starting to make headway with Project WORTH. I am so worried that without this funding that there will be many, many teens who will be having that second baby,” said Van de Putte.
Van de Putte says Project WORTH is an example of a publicly-funded abstinence plus education program that works. It can’t look to the state for help because currently Texas will only help fund programs that teach an abstinence-only curriculum.
“I think it’s critical for us to continue the type of funding because it’s abstinence plus. It was showing a great success and particularly with our teen repeat births. I’m hoping that council can find ways to at least keep that program viable and not cut it by two thirds,” said Van de Putte.
It’s important to note that kids can only participate in Project WORTH programs with parent permission. Dr. Realini says the program helps reduce the economic and social burdens that unintended pregnancy can cause over a period of time. She says the curriculum she designed can help kids make the right decisions.
“Good information. Abstinence plus education for students whose parents want them to have it and most parents do, that’s a key piece of helping young people have the tools they need to make the healthy decisions to wait to have sex – to wait to have babies. If they are sexually active, they need to know how to protect themselves and their families,” said Realini.
City officials are holding public meeting on the proposed budget over the next few weeks. The Council will vote on a final plan next month. |
