Move to cut federal teen pregnancy money sparks fear in South Georgia
WASHINGTON —Angelina Jackson of Edison, Ga., population 1,451, likes the classroom work she does for Quest for Change.
The 17-year-old is proud of the “scenario” she and her fellow teenagers set up at Calhoun County High School placing classmates in the role of a girl who had unprotected sex and doesn’t know whether she’s pregnant.
They set up desks around the room in the role of different services the teen might have to navigate, and they sent the student through the conversations and decisions they’d have to make either way.
Quest for Change, a youth and family development-focused nonprofit run out of tiny Dawson, Ga., trained Jackson and other teenagers in how to discuss pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and healthy relationships with their peers.
But the program will almost certainly be shuttered by this time next year. It is one of three in Georgia that saw its money for anti-teen pregnancy initiatives abruptly cut short by the Trump administration earlier this month.
Read the whole story on myAJC: Feds' decision to kill sex-ed grants stirs worries in South Georgia
About the Author
Tamar Hallerman is an award-winning senior reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She covers the Fulton County election interference case and co-hosts the Breakdown podcast.
