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Albuquerque nonprofit abstinence program under investigation; future uncertain

By James W. Brosnan
Friday, August 24, 2007

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WASHINGTON — The Albuquerque nonprofit abstinence program under investigation for its handling of federal grant money during the tenure of former executive director Kevin Jackson faces an uncertain future.

Best Choice, which urges teenagers to abstain from sex until marriage, is waiting on word from four federal entities, Executive Director Tony Oliva says.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is considering whether to award the program a new grant for the next five years.

The Democratically controlled Congress is considering whether to cut or increase funding for the abstinence education program. It is almost certain to insist on strong oversight.

Meanwhile, the Health and Human Services inspector general and the FBI are investigating the financial practices of Jackson, Oliva's predecessor and the former mayor of Rio Rancho.

Best Choice fired Jackson on May 15 over findings that he billed both the city of Rio Rancho and the nonprofit for the same Florida trip.

Jackson resigned as Rio Rancho mayor last month amid questions about his use of a city credit card.

Oliva has acknowledged the FBI and the HHS inspector general are looking into how federal funds were spent, but said he doesn't believe the controversy over Jackson's tenure will endanger Best Choice's chances of getting another grant.

"This month we should hear," he said.

Best Choice has received audits of the spending and is now separate from New Mexico Family Council, which Jackson founded and was later merged with Best Choice, Oliva said.

"It isn't going to hurt us. It's going to help," Oliva said. "This organization went through the wringer. And I'm hoping that they are looking at this in a positive light."

Critics of abstinence-until-marriage programs say they are unrealistic and deprive students of needed information about contraception and condoms. Sponsors say abstinence is the only sure way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and transmission of sexual diseases.

There's little dispute that some type of sex education program is needed in New Mexico, where the teenage birth rate is above the national average.

Nationwide, teenage births have declined by about one third, from 61.8 births per 1,000 girls in 1991 to 41.8 births per 1,000 in 2004.

New Mexico has seen a decline, also, but in 2004 had nearly 61 births per 1,000 girls, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

That rate is topped by only two other states, Mississippi with 61.9 births per 1,000 and Texas, 62.6 per 1,000.

President Bush advocated abstinence education as governor of Texas and promised to double funding for abstinence-only funding if elected. Grants have gone not only to state education and health departments but community groups such as Best Choice.

Best Choice received about $1.8 million in direct federal grants during the last three years and almost $100,000 in indirect federal funds through the state Health Department.

Initially, Best Choice featured Game Plan, a program developed by former professional basketball player A.C. Green.

The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, which backs comprehensive sexual education, said Game Plan relies on "messages of fear and shame, inaccurate and misleading information, and biased views of marriage, sexual orientation and family structure."

Oliva said Best Choice no longer uses Game Plan. Under the new grant proposal, the program will be renamed Youth Lifeline and will emphasize avoiding all risky behavior - not just sex, but drugs, alcohol abuse and gang life.

Replacing the original program "wasn't getting away from abstinence, it was just expanding it to risk avoidance," said Oliva.

Best Choice also dropped a Jackson initiative, the Purity Ball, in which daughters pledged their chastity to their fathers.

"In my mind, that's a little hokey," Oliva said. "It's approaching the symptoms and not the cause. We need to find out why people go crazy and be promiscuous."

Oliva said he recognizes that abstinence programs are likely to face increased scrutiny from Congress.

This year, the House went along with Bush's request to increase funding for community groups that teach abstinence by $27.7 million, to a total of $141.1 million.

The House Appropriations Committee has said it wants to reduce the number of abortions in the United States. It increased family planning programs by the same amount.

But on the Senate side, the Senate Appropriations Committee cut funding for abstinence programs by nearly $25 million, to $85 million.

It cited a federally funded study by Mathematica Policy Research that looked at abstinence programs in Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin and Mississippi. The study concluded that students who participated in abstinence education programs showed no difference in the age at which they started having sex or in the number of partners compared to other students.

Backers of abstinence education say the study looked at too small a sample.

"It took four programs and generalized it over 800 programs in the United States," said Linda Klepacki, sexual health analyst for Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of James Dobson's Focus on the Family.

Klepacki said people involved in abstinence teaching are concerned about the changes being contemplated by Congress.

"These (abstinence) funding streams may be opened up to contraceptive-based education funding," Klepacki said.

Some liberal groups are critical of the House for increasing funding for abstinence education, arguing that it is ineffective without detailed information on contraception.

"When you focus on abstinence, then you end up with students who are ill-prepared for what is really going to happen," said Fred Edwords, director of communication for the American Humanist Association. "In real life, people who try abstinence try it for a short time and then start having sex. If they're not prepared, they do worse."

The state currently has no contract with Best Choice. This summer, the New Mexico Teen Pregnancy Coalition ran a program in which 41 boys and girls ages 11-17 attended a six-week course that also emphasized avoiding risky behavior. The state is awaiting word from Congress on whether funding for state-run abstinence programs will continue.

"I'm praying they keep funding it," said Leonard Casaus, lead facilitator for the Albuquerque program.