Program teaches abstinence

Associated Press

Skeptical states are shoving aside millions of federal dollars for abstinence education, walking away from the program the Bush administration touts for slowing teen sexual activity.

Barely half the states are still involved, and two more say they are leaving.

Some $50 million has been budgeted for this year, and financially strapped states might be expected to want their share. But many have doubts the program does much, if any, good, and they are frustrated by chronic uncertainty that it will continue. They also have to chip in state money in order to receive the federal grants.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, made his decision to leave based on the congressionally mandated curriculum, which teaches "the social, psychological and health gains of abstaining from sexual activity." Instructors must teach that sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.

"It was just too strict," said Emily Hajek, a policy adviser to Mr. Culver. "We believe local providers have the knowledge to teach what's going to be best in those situations, what kind of information will help those young people be safe. You cannot be that prescriptive about how it has to be taught."

A federal tally shows that participation in the program is down 40 percent over two years, with 28 states still involved. Arizona and Iowa have announced their intention to forgo their share of the federal grant at the start of the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The program was created by Congress in 1996 as part of welfare reform.

Since 2002, lawmakers have approved 19 short-term extensions, usually for three or six months at a time. But on three occasions, the program was extended for just a few days.

Whatever state officials think of the program's aims, that's not the kind of bureaucratic consistency they need to budget for employees and to put contracts out to bid.

"The funding stream became inconsistent. We didn't know from one quarter to the next whether we'd be getting the rest of the money," said Elke Shaw-Tulloch of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. "We got to the point where we didn't have any infrastructure to put the money to use. At the same time, there was mounting evidence the abstinence programs weren't proving to be effective."

Combined with a rising pregnancy rate among 15- to 19-year-olds in Idaho - 2,543 pregnancies in 2006 compared with 2,396 in 2004 - and state officials decided last summer it was time to get out.

Stanley Koutstaal, the federal official who oversees the abstinence-only program at the Administration for Children and Family Services, noted more than half the states still participate. "Obviously, many states still find it valuable and have adopted it as their approach to addressing the sexual activity of teens," he said.

Some states' officials speak favorably of the program.

Teachers in Georgia go beyond the abstinence message. They stress community service and doing better in school, said Jen Bennecke, executive director of the governor's office for children and families. She said the program has led to an almost 50 percent drop in pregnancy rates for Georgia youth ages 15 to 17 since the mid-1990s.

The abstinence-only grants have been controversial from the start.

Supporters say comprehensive sex education sends a mixed message and that abstinence is the only method that is 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. Critics say abstinence education simply doesn't stop teens from having sex, and those teens need more information about how to reduce pregnancy and disease.