HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits Iowa clinic amid legal challenges to department programs

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the Crescent Community Health Center in Dubuque, Iowa. The facility is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that provides medical, dental, mental health, and substance use services to underserved populations using a sliding scale based on income.

In a separate legal development, a federal judge halted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from implementing new requirements for the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program. The disputed changes would have mandated abstinence-only education and prohibited the inclusion of “gender ideology” and diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in grant-funded programs.

The ruling allows Hennepin County to potentially continue receiving millions in federal grant funding for its “Better Together Hennepin” program, though it did not restore over half a million dollars in previously cancelled funds. The TPP program provides approximately $101 million in annual grant funding to organizations working to reduce unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.