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Division of Women's Health outlines family-planning, cancer-screening and community grant programs
Summary
The Division of Women's Health told commissioners it operates Kentucky Family Planning (Title X), a breast and cervical cancer screening program tied to federal NBCCEDP rules, and a Breast Cancer Trust Fund that gives community grants (up to about $30,000) supported by specialty license plates and tax check-offs; officials urged increased public awareness of these services.
Dr. Stephanie Rose, director of the Division of Women's Health in the Kentucky Department for Public Health, described the Division's core programs and how Kentuckians can access them.
Rose said the Division (created by state legislation in 1998) centers three primary programs: Kentucky Family Planning (a Title X federal grant program that provides contraception, pregnancy testing and counseling, infertility screening, STI services, preconception care and preventive services), the Kentucky Women's Cancer Screening Program (aligned with the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program), and the state Breast Cancer Trust Fund, which supports community grants.
"Family Planning services are provided to females and males of any age, including adolescents, and are confidential," Rose said. She emphasized that Title X funding does not include abortion services and noted that low-income and uninsured women who meet federal poverty guidelines may receive screening and diagnostic services through the state program and then gain Medicaid-covered treatment under the breast and cervical cancer treatment option.
Rose described the Breast Cancer Trust Fund as a state-funded program that gets money from specialty pink license plates and optional tax-donation check-offs; the fund helps local health departments and not-for-profits apply for community grants, with awards of up to about $30,000 to support outreach and awareness activities. She urged health-care providers and community leaders to publicize the programs and said no referral is required to access screening services; people can call or visit the Division's website for information.
The Division also maintains a women's health resource center and a website that houses information on perinatal and maternal mental health; both officials urged better public and provider awareness so that eligible Kentuckians can use services without cost barriers.
No formal actions or funding changes were announced during the session; speakers emphasized outreach and education as next steps so eligible Kentuckians can find and use the programs described.
