Heartland Rural Health Network gets $498,000 grant

AVON PARK - The Heartland Rural Health Network Inc. received notification from Senator Bill Nelson's office that it has been awarded a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children & Families in the amount of $497,830.

This is a five-year grant, with a potential total funding of $2.5 million. This Community Based Abstinence Education Program Grant will help address the alarmingly high teen pregnancy rates in rural Highlands, DeSoto and Hardee counties.

According to the Florida Department of Health, out of Florida's 67 counties, Highlands, DeSoto, and Hardee counties rank 29th highest, third highest, and second highest, respectively, for births to girls under 18.

"The Heartland Rural Health Network is enormously pleased with the support and financial assistance being provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services by funding of this grant. This funding will enable us to work closely with our community partners and other community agencies to address the high rates of teenage pregnancies in our rural communities," said J. Rudy Reinhardt, executive director of the Heartland Rural Health Network. "The Network would like to thank the legislators at both the state and federal levels for their continued support of programs that benefit our rural communities, especially our younger populations."

The Heartland Rural Health Network is one of nine rural health networks in the state of Florida. These networks were created by an act of the State legislature in 1993. The primary mission of the Heartland Rural Health Network is to get together with the health care providers in our area to determine the best way to provide and deliver health care services to rural residents.

According to the Florida Department of Health's data registry, there were 138 births to girls under 18 in these three rural counties in 2006 (latest data available). The National Campaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy estimates that these 138 babies born to teen parents equal a $2,835,000 cost to local communities. This dollar amount includes costs from birth to age 18.

Kelly J. Johnson, the Network's health planning director, stated, "This grant will really enhance our efforts to address the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the three rural communities by implementing a variety of youth centered programs that uses evidence based educational materials.

"The real purpose of these programs is to educate our youth and create an environment within our own rural communities that supports teen decisions to postpone sexual activity until marriage. We want to reduce the number of teens having babies and our programs will really support this effort."

The Heartland Rural Health Network will work closely with the Highlands, DeSoto and Hardee county health departments, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Alliances, each of the county's school boards, and several faith-based organizations to implement abstinence education programs that focus on youth 12-18 years of age. It is anticipated that through these programs, 3,410 youth will be served.

The Network will also contract with the University of Florida to evaluate this project over the five-year grant period.

Source: http://www.newssun.com/News/1008-Abstinence-Grant