After a four-month freeze, federal funding returns to dozens of sexual health clinics in the Philly area
The Trump administration had withheld Title X funds from AccessMatters, which distributes the money, while investigating it for compliance with the president's directives.
Millions of federal dollars for family planning and other sexual health services are returning to Philadelphia-area clinics whose funding was frozen four months ago by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Since April, the administration had withheld a year’s worth of Title X funds at hundreds of clinics in 23 states. These funds help people without sufficient health insurance to access contraceptives, sexually transmitted infection testing, cancer screenings, and vaccinations.
AccessMatters, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit that distributes Title X funds in Southeastern Pennsylvania, had been set this spring to give out $5.7 million to 22 organizations operating 77 clinics.
Instead, federal officials told the organization the funds would be frozen while they investigated its compliance with Trump directives on immigration and diversity, equity, and inclusion, AccessMatters president and CEO Ayana Bradshaw said.
Trump has argued that DEI programs discriminate against white people, and his administration has targeted federal grants that support research on health equity and threatened universities with funding cuts based on their DEI policies.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Title X funding, declined to comment on the release of the funds, saying the agency does not discuss ongoing litigation. (The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association filed a lawsuit challenging the funding freeze in April.)
Then last week, AccessMatters received a letter from federal officials saying its funding would be restored, because the organization was complying with the administration’s executive orders, grant requirements, and other federal laws, Bradshaw said.
The organization and the clinics it funds did not have to change policies or the care they provide.
Still, four months without Title X funds has taken a toll on many clinics.
Some agencies had to lay off or reassign staff, reduce staff hours, or institute hiring freezes, Bradshaw said. Without Title X funds to provide discounted medicines, providers had to scramble to help patients access medications elsewhere. Others had to adjust their sliding-scale payment systems to stay afloat, or shoulder the increased costs of caring for patients without insurance.
“Providers tried very hard to ensure a continuity of care, and not to have patients feel it fully,” Bradshaw said.
Even with the funding now restored, operations at area clinics won’t immediately return to normal, she said.
“It’s going to take time and resources to overcome this. Clinics are going to have to replenish critical supplies, including contraceptives, and restore operational capacity by adjusting schedules, rehiring, and replacing,” she said.
And future Title X funding remains uncertain, especially as Congress has passed cuts to Medicaid’s health services for low-income families and people with disabilities and other healthcare programs.
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AccessMatters is looking to the private sector and philanthropies to diversify funding for sexual health services, while it also lobbies the state and federal government for continued Title X funding.
“This restoration is a meaningful step forward, but it’s only a temporary solution,” Bradshaw said. “And Title X funds are really part of the safety net that so many people are relying on for care.”