Project Grant FPHPA006501

TITLE X DIRE NEEDS INTERVENTION AND ACCESS PROGRAM - THE FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION OF MAINE (FPA) SEEKS FEDERAL TITLE X DIRE NEEDS FUNDS TO ADDRESS HISTORIC DISPARITIES AMONG IMMIGRANTS, REFUGEES, AND ASYLUM SEEKERS WHO LACK INSURANCE COVERAGE; HAVE A LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR RIGHT TO ACCESS HEALTH CARE; FACE LANGUAGE AND INTERPRETATION BARRIERS; AND ARE UNDERSTANDABLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE. THE NEED TO REACH OUT TO THE POPULATION OF NEW MAINERS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IS SELF-EVIDENT: ACCORDING TO A 2014 GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE STUDY, JUST HALF OF THE FOREIGN-BORN WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE HAD RECEIVED CONTRACEPTIVE CARE, COMPARED TO TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICAN-BORN WOMEN. TO HELP THE NEW MAINER POPULATION IN SOUTHERN MAINE ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES, THE FPA SEEKS $157,500 TO EXPAND ITS EXISTING PARTNERSHIP WITH GREATER PORTLAND HEALTH (GPH), A FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTER WITH 10 LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN MAINE WHOSE CURRENT PATIENT POPULATION SPEAKS 16 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. USING DIRE NEEDS FUNDS, GPH WOULD RECRUIT, HIRE, AND TRAIN TWO PART-TIME COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS TO REDUCE STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO CRITICAL, LIFE-CHANGING FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES, EDUCATION AND COUNSELING FOR PRIMARILY AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS, REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN AND AROUND PORTLAND, MAINE. BY BREAKING DOWN LOGISTICAL AND CULTURAL OBSTACLES TO FAMILY PLANNING CARE FOR THIS POPULATION, THE FPA PROJECTS 650 EDUCATIONAL ENCOUNTERS WITH MEMBERS OF THE TARGET POPULATION AND THAT AS A RESULT OF THESE CONTACTS, BETWEEN 160-200 NEW PATIENTS WILL ACCESS TITLE X SERVICES. BOTH THE FPA AND GPH ARE WHOLEHEARTEDLY COMMITTED TO OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS IMMIGRANTS, REFUGEES, AND ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE IN ACCESSING SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE. AND BOTH GPH AND THE FPA RECOGNIZE THAT IN-PERSON, FACE-TO-FACE EDUCATION AND OUTREACH OF THE KIND DESCRIBES THROUGHOUT THIS APPLICATION IS LABOR INTENSIVE. HOWEVER, THE VALUE OF INCREASING ACCESS TO TITLE X SERVICES IS INCALCULABLE AND WILL SERVE AS A MODEL TO BE REPLICATED WITHIN OUR OWN NETWORKS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.