The Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF), established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, seeks to improve the educational, health, and social outcomes for vulnerable individuals who are expectant or new parents and their children. Specifically, the program serves expectant and parenting teens, women, fathers, and their families, which includes women of any age who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Administered by the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) in the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), PAF has provided $25 million in annual mandatory funding for a 10-year period from Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) through FY2019.
GOYFF aids in the administration of dollars described above though a competitive grant application process. In FY 2018, GOYFF was awarded approximately $1.5 million to support programs in Maricopa County. Funding invests in programs that provide services for the 5,710 expectant or parenting individuals 12 to 24 years of age who are currently or formerly involved with the foster care or juvenile justice system. GOYFF is also responsible for facilitating the Inter-agency Pregnancy and Parenting Assistance Council (IPPAC), which oversees these services and provides three different programs to improve education, health, and social outcomes for this population: a resource and information digital platform, an information and referral program, and the Empowered Young Parents Program.
If you have questions about this program or would like to be connected to grantees who are currently providing prevention and educational programming in your community, please email your name, contact information, location, and requested programming/training to Tonya Hamilton, Deputy Director.