Thursday, December 7, 2023
12/7/2023
The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) is a major provider of health care, public health and social services on Guam. Family planning and reproductive health services is currently being offered at the Guam Community Health Centers (Guam CHC), a federally-qualified community health center and selected site for this funding opportunity, that is organized under the Bureau of Primary Care Services within the DPHSS Division of Public Health. DPHSS is pursuing this funding opportunity to strengthen and expand the provision of these critical services at the Guam CHC’s especially to low-income families and adolescents. The need for high quality family planning services is great in Guam, as: • The provision of quality family planning services was negatively impacted as a result of the Title X Family Planning Grant not being renewed in 2016, thereby creating gap in access and utilization of critical services among the local community; • Teen pregnancy rates on island continue to remain high compared to other jurisdictions in the United States; • The total infant mortality rate for Guam is nearly double the rate of that of the United States; • The disease burden of STIs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, especially among youth and adolescents, is markedly higher than that of the rest of the United States, and poses a threat to reproductive health outcomes of this population; • Risky behaviors among Guam’s youth and adolescents remains high whilst the reported use of family planning methods is low; • The increase in recent family planning encounters highlights the increased demand of these critical services and highlights the tremendous progress that has been made over the last few years of previous Title X grant awards. Resources from this funding opportunity will be utilized address these needs in an effort to strengthen the island’s health system’s capacity to deliver high quality Family Planning Services in accordance with Title X statute and regulations, through provider capacity building opportunities, trainings, and other available opportunities. If funded, the project will prioritize the following over the course of the performance period: 1. Advance health equity through the delivery of Title X quality family planning services by ensuring a broad range of client-centered quality services are offered and assessing barriers through client surveys and local data sources; 2. Improve and expand accessibility of Title X family planning services for all clients, especially low-income clients and adolescents, by establishing the Guam Family Planning Advisory Committee and an Information and Education Advisory Committee; 3. Delivering Title X family planning services that are of the highest quality and consistent with nationally recognized standards of care by ensuring staff training plans are developed and continuously identifying training plans for both project and clinical staffs; 4. Implementing a QI/QA plan, including but not limited to, collecting, reporting, and using FPAR 2.0 data to ensure continuous quality improvement through the duration of the performance period.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
