On March 29, 2022, ABCD—Action for Boston Community Development—received the shocking news that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Population Affairs, was terminating funding of the anti-poverty organization’s Title X Family Planning program as of March 31, 2022. For more than 50 years, in collaboration with a vital community health center network, ABCD has done an exemplary job of delivering critical health services to more than 30,000 low-income residents and communities of color. Where are our most vulnerable neighbors to turn for these critical services? This reporter had a chance to talk to ABCD President/CEO John J. Drew.
SAMPAN: We understand that for the first time in over 50 years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has denied funding for ABCD’s proven family planning and preventive health services which provide critical care to low-income residents of Boston and beyond. What happened?
JOHN J. DREW: I wish I had an answer. First, let me state clearly that ABCD is continuing to offer family planning and preventive health services—we are OPEN! We’ve been operating efficiently and effectively in partnership with 23 community health centers, school based health centers and hospitals for decades, and we can continue operating while appealing to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to review our proposal and fund us fully.
On March 30th—only two days before this Title X grant was to be renewed—we received word from HHS that our application had been “reviewed favorably” but would not be funded. With health disparities in poor neighborhoods at an all-time high, Title X services are needed now more than ever. We were shocked, to say the least.
SAMPAN: How did you respond?
JOHN J. DREW: We immediately contacted the HHS regional office requesting an appeal, and we are very grateful to our elected officials at every level who wasted no time and made inquiries on behalf of ABCD and the people we serve. Sen. Ed Markey and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and others are advocating for us, and I’d like to offer special thanks to the Boston City Council which on April 13, 2022 passed a resolution in support of fully funding ABCD Title X funding.
SAMPAN: ABCD has served the community in this capacity successfully for decades, correct?
JOHN J. DREW That’s correct, it’s been 55 years. ABCD opened the first community health center in the country at Columbia Point and, in recent years, working with a network of partners, we have provided more than 30,000 residents with vital health services. All of those served by this important grant are low-income and an overwhelming percentage are people of color. And they deserve equal access to excellent healthcare.
SAMPAN: Exactly what services will be lost?
JOHN J. DREW: The communities we serve will lose a wide range of services including pregnancy testing and counseling, preconception and basic infertility services, STD prevention education, screening and treatment, HIV testing and referral for treatment, and screening and referral for substance abuse disorders.
SAMPAN: Why should ABCD be reinstated as the Title X grantee?
JOHN J. DREW: Two good reasons are our exceptional experience and our community-based approach. ABCD has an exemplary record of maximizing its grant awarded funds to reach those who are most in need in Massachusetts. In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs (OPA) recognized us as a “standout grantee” in December 2020.
And as a community action agency, we are rooted in the neighborhoods we serve in Greater Boston; our diverse staff mirrors the people in these neighborhoods, and we take this approach wherever we go, whether expanding to Southeast, Central and Western Massachusetts or operating here in Boston.
SAMPAN: How can Sampan readers help?
JOHN J. DREW: We’re asking everyone who has benefited from our and our partners’ health services or who cares about improving access to high quality care to contact U.S. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and your legislators and urge them to restore ABCD as the Title X grantee. Tell them ABCD’s Family Planning and Preventive Health Services should be reinstated not for a month or a year, but for the length of the next grant cycle and beyond.
You can find your municipal, state, and federal officials and their contact information at wheredoivotema.com. Thank you!
About ABCD
A nonprofit community action agency, ABCD each year provides under-resourced residents in the Boston, Mystic Valley, and cities and towns throughout the state with the tools, support, and resources they need to transition from poverty to stability and from stability to success. For nearly 60 years, ABCD has been deeply rooted in each neighborhood it serves, empowering individuals and families and supporting them in their quest to live with dignity and achieve their highest potential. For more, please visit bostonabcd.org.
SAMPAN, published by the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association, is the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, acting as a bridge between Asian American community organizations and individuals in the Greater Boston area. It is published biweekly and distributed free-of-charge throughout metro Boston; it is also delivered to as far away as Hawaii.