Governor Mike Pence is increasing school safety grant funding by more than $3 million in the wake of a shooting at an Oregon community college that left ten people, including the gunman, dead.
Advertisement
The news dropped on a holiday when state offices were closed, about an hour after The Journal Gazette sent an email to two state agencies seeking information about an earlier one-year, $1 million contract with Real Alternatives that ended September 30.
Service providers who work with Real Alternatives are barred from having affiliation with entities that perform abortions or are advocates for the pro-abortion rights cause.
Nor does Real Alternatives endorse contraceptive use, according to its website.
“Not only are there transparency issues associated with this deal, but the organization uses questionable and partisan research in their assessment of health behaviors”, Indiana Democratic Party spokesman Drew Anderson said in a statement.
Social conservatives, including the group Indiana Right To Life, praised Pence for awarding the contract. “The administration owes taxpayers answers on how their money is being spent”.
During the past 12 months, the program served 8,452 clients during 16,839 visits.
Real Alternatives’ programs include counseling support for pregnant women and new moms on topics such as breastfeeding, childcare, depression, fetal development, drug abuse and more. The release noted that existing federal TANF dollars given to Indiana will cover the new contract and that this will not entail cuts to any other services or programs. The group provides referral services for housing, medical health, mental health, etc.
According to the original contract, about $166,000 of the money went to salaries and fringe benefits for Real Alternatives staffers. The organization refers women to crisis centers rather than to health care facilities, said Abby Hunt, executive director of Health Care Education & Training, an Indianapolis-based organization that provides training to professionals on reproductive and sexual health. This organization will not advise about birth control, instead will only recommend abstinence. Women receive coupons by “doing positive things for their child” and can use the coupons to buy items.
Advertisement
“My understanding is that they don’t offer all options, and that the discussion is all about parenting or adoption”, said Betty Cockrum with Planned Parenthood of Indiana. Michigan and Pennsylvania also contract with Real Alternatives to handle their pregnancy and parenting support programs, the organization’s website says.
