NH: Sex ed program may resume, over objections of Executive Council Republicans
Seven months after Executive Council Republicans defunded an after-school sex education program aimed at reducing teen pregnancy, the federal government is offering providers a way around the council.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s office said Monday that the federal Department of Health and Human Services is offering organizations in New Hampshire $250,000 to resume the Personal Responsibility Education Program. The grants do not require the approval of the Executive Council.
Led by Shaheen, the state’s federal delegation requested the funding in December, shortly after the Executive Council voted 3-2 to reject a $682,000 contract with two nonprofits that were providing the program, Amoskeag Health in Manchester and the TLC Family Resource Center in Claremont. They are located in communities with the state’s highest teen pregnancy rates.
When it looked like the grants wouldn’t be available until August, Shaheen sent a second letter on May 31 to the federal agency asking that the awards be expedited. The agency began accepting applications Friday.
The Executive Council had approved funding for the PREP program for a decade before Republican members, who had previously voted for it, voted it down.
https://newhampshirebulletin.com/briefs/sex-ed-program-may-resume-over-objections-of-executive-council-republicans/
