New Report: Family Planning Community Needs Assessment

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Mercy Chikowore

New Report: ‘Family Planning Community Needs Assessment’ for the

DC Family Planning Project (DCFPP)

The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (GW), with support from The Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust and Washington Area Women’s Foundation, conducted a community needs assessment for the DC Family Planning Project (DCFPP) aimed at providing an in-depth analysis of the family planning landscape for women aged 15–29 in DC. This comprehensive community assessment, which includes both primary and secondary data, was designed, implemented, and analyzed between July 2017 and May 2018.

Nationwide, the rate of unintended pregnancy, defined as those pregnancies that are mistimed or unwanted, is one of the highest in the developed world. Although the unintended pregnancy rate has been declining nationally and locally in recent years in the general population, disparities remain – particularly in the District of Columbia. Poor and low-income women continue to bear the brunt of this disparity.

Access to family planning services, including both privately and publicly funded services is one necessary component to reducing unintended pregnancies, and more importantly, to ensuring women and families in DC have the ability to plan if and when to have a child. At The Women’s Foundation, we won’t rest until all women, especially young women and girls of color, have equal access to economic security, safety and opportunity, which is why the Family Planning Community Needs Assessment report is important.

The report identifies gaps, barriers, and facilitators to family planning services and contraceptive utilization in DC. There are several key findings from this study that provide insights for both service delivery sites as well as for direct outreach to the community, including the following:

a disconnect between availability of contraceptive services and utilization of these services;
limited availability of adolescent-friendly services;
widespread confidentiality concerns regarding adolescent reproductive health services;
a significant number of sexually active adolescents and young women in DC who are not accessing
reproductive health care at all;
low levels of knowledge of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARC) methods (which include
intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants), particularly amongst 15–19 year-olds, non-Hispanic black
adolescents/women and adolescents/women living in Wards 4, 5, 7 and 8; and
negative perceptions and concerns about the safety, side effects, and comfort of LARC methods,
which influence many women’s decisions regarding contraceptive methods.

The DCFPP, housed at The Women’s Foundation, will use the results of this needs assessment, along with the input of the DCFPP Community Advisory Board to develop interventions to reduce reproductive health disparities and improve reproductive health outcomes in DC.

To find out more, click here to read the full report!

2018 Leadership Luncheon

Posted on July 17, 2018July 23, 2018 by Mercy Chikowore

Join Washington Area Women’s Foundation for what will truly be an inspirational celebration of the transformative power of investing in women and girls in the Washington region.

Sponsor or buy your ticket now at https://wawf.org/LL2018

#our100days Day 41

Posted on March 2, 2017March 3, 2017 by WAWF

Justice For All and For Her

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as of January 2017, 6.7 percent of all inmates are women. Despite the seemingly small percentage, women are the fastest-growing group of inmates. Many justice-involved women have experienced trauma during their lifetimes, however, jails and prisons offer little or no trauma-informed care or mental health services.

Here’s what we’re doing today:

Vera’s 2016 report, Overlooked: Women and Jails in an Era of Reform, which focuses on women in jails on a national level, is comprehensive, fact-based, and offers concrete insights to what honestly happens to women in jails in this country. It also offers substantive ways of changing the system and reducing the number of justice-involved women. The report proves that women who are in jail are suffering because of ignorance and gender bias.

Sample Tweets:

Women are the fastest-growing group of inmates. Read & share @VeraInstitute’s report wawf.org/2lV7qqI #our100days

Did you know women are the fastest-growing group of inmates? @TaylarNuevelle discusses it in her article wawf.org/2lAolw9 #our100days

Highlights from The Women’s Foundation’s Analysis of 2015 Poverty Data

Posted on September 22, 2016September 22, 2016 by Claudia Williams

Our analysis of the newly released data from the American Community Survey found women’s poverty rates during 2015 continue to be substantially above the poverty rates for men; that among women, single women with children and women of color are more likely to live below the poverty threshold; and that poverty rates vary considerably across jurisdictions. The Washington Region faces some of the largest disparities in women’s poverty in the United States.

Poverty rates have fluctuated with the economy, but no substantial long-term progress has been made across the region overall or in any particular jurisdiction.

The percent of women and girls living in poverty in our region decreased in every jurisdiction during 2015 except in Montgomery County. Overall, the poverty rate for women and girls in the region went from 10.6 percent in 2014 to 10 percent last year.

The poverty rate for men and boys in 2015, 8.1 percent, also diminished from 8.3 percent in 2014.

Women’s poverty rate in the District of Columbia (18.4 percent) is by far the highest poverty rate for women and girls among the jurisdictions that comprise the Washington region.

Prince George’s County (10.4 percent) and the City of Alexandria (9.7 percent) have the highest poverty rates for women after the District of Columbia. Women living in Fairfax County (6.7 percent) are the least likely to be poor.

Women’s poverty has been steadily increasing in Montgomery County for most of the past decade. With the exception of 2011, women’s poverty has increased year after year, while men’s poverty has decreased several times since 2010.

Female-headed households with children reached a poverty rate of 26.6 percent while only 3.2 percent of married-couple families in a comparable group lived below poverty across the region. In the District of Columbia the poverty rate for female-headed households was 40.3 percent. The lowest rate was 14.2 percent in Arlington County.

Of families with children living in poverty in the Washington Region, 66.8 percent were headed by single women. The jurisdictions with the largest share of poor families headed by single women were the District of Columbia (82.5 percent) and Alexandria (75.4 percent).

About 15.1 percent of Black women and 14.7 percent of Latinas in the region lived below the poverty level, a considerably higher rate than the 4.9 percent for White, non-Hispanic women.

The District of Columbia has the largest concentration of Black women in poverty (27.9 percent) while Prince George’s County has the largest concentration of White (7.8 percent) and Latina women in poverty (19.7 percent).

The Women’s Foundation is committed to building pathways out of poverty for women and girls across our region. As we work to achieve our mission, we recognize the value of having the most updated data on the status of women and girls in our community at our fingertips. We constantly analyze and disaggregate survey data to shed light on the issues that impact the program areas we direct our grant investments. We hope this knowledge becomes a valuable resource to our Grantee Partners and organizations that share our mission to help support a woman’s journey to economic security.

Highlights from The Women’s Foundation’s Analysis of 2014 Poverty Data

Posted on August 4, 2016September 22, 2016 by Claudia Williams

Our latest detailed analysis on women’s poverty (available in a series of fact sheets on our website!) found women’s poverty rates continue to be substantially above the poverty rates for men; that among women, single women with children and women of color are more likely to live below the poverty threshold; and that poverty rates vary considerably across jurisdictions. The Washington Region faces some of the largest disparities in women’s poverty in the United States.

Poverty rates have fluctuated with the economy, but no substantial long-term progress has been made across the region overall or in any particular jurisdiction.

The percent of women and girls living in poverty in our region is at its highest point since 2005, increasing from 8.8 percent in that year to 10.6 percent in 2014.

The poverty rate for men and boys in 2014, 8.3 percent, was lower than for women and girls and has remained steady since 2010.

Women’s poverty rate in the District of Columbia (19.2 percent) is by far the highest poverty rate for women and girls among the jurisdictions that comprise the Washington region—almost twice as large as the average poverty rate for women across the region (10.6 percent).

Prince George’s County (11.0 percent) and the City of Alexandria (11.6 percent) have the highest poverty rates for women after the District of Columbia. Women living in Fairfax County are the least likely to be poor.

Women’s poverty has been steadily increasing in Montgomery County for the past nine years. With the exception of 2011, women’s poverty has increased year after year, while men’s poverty has decreased several times since 2010.

Female-headed households with children reached a poverty rate of 25.1 percent while only four percent of married-couple families in a comparable group lived below poverty across the region. In the District of Columbia the poverty rate for female-headed households was 38.5 percent. The lowest rate was 17.6 percent in Prince George’s County.

Of families with children living in poverty in the Washington Region, 63.3 percent were headed by single women. The largest share of these families was concentrated in the District of Columbia (81.5 percent) and Alexandria (63.6 percent).

About 15.0 percent of Black women and 13.2 percent of Latinas in the region lived below the poverty level, a considerably higher rate than the 5.2 percent for White, non-Hispanic women.

The District of Columbia has the largest concentration of Black women in poverty (27.3 percent) while Prince George’s County has the largest concentration of White (9.2 percent) and Latina women in poverty (20.5 percent).

Women’s Poverty on the Rise

Posted on July 21, 2016July 27, 2016 by Claudia Williams

The Women’s Foundation is committed to building pathways out of poverty for women and girls across our region. As we work to achieve our mission, we recognize the value of having the most updated data on the status of women and girls in our community at our fingertips. We constantly analyze and disaggregate survey data to shed light on the issues that impact the program areas we direct our grant investments. This knowledge enables us to be better positioned to invest in programs and strategies that effectively support a woman’s journey to economic security.

Our latest analysis on women’s poverty (available in a series of fact sheets on our website!) reveals a discouraging but well-known story for those of us interested in the issue. Years into the economic recovery and poverty rates are still on the rise for women. The number of women living in poverty in our region increased once again—from 10.2 percent in 2013 to 10.6 percent in 2014. While women’s poverty rates continues to rise, the poverty rate for men in our region has remained steady at 8.3 percent since 2010.

Single women with children and women of color face a higher risk of falling below the poverty threshold—$19,790 for a family of three in 2014. Currently, 25.1 percent of the female-headed households with children in our region are raising their families in poverty. Overall, about 15 percent of Black women and 13.2 percent of Latinas are struggling with economic hardship across the region as well.

There are many reasons why women fall below the poverty threshold, including unemployment, barriers to accessing education, lack of affordable childcare, and discrimination and the persistent gender wage gap. But one of the key factors is low-quality and low-income jobs. Many women in our region are working more than full-time at poverty-level wages with little to no benefits. The cost of living in the Washington region makes it nearly impossible for these women and their families to make ends meet. For instance, a family of three (one adult and two children) living below the poverty line in the District of Columbia earns only about $19,790 in a year; but, in order to meet basic needs, that same family would require an annual income of at least $85,000.

There are some key steps we can take to help women on the path to economic security, including: adopting critical policies and supports like quality, affordable early care and education; strengthening available safety net programs, and encouraging jobs with family-sustaining wages and benefits. We must also raise awareness about the needs and vulnerabilities of women with the recognition that their economic security isn’t just a “women’s issue.”

Our latest analysis on women’s poverty is an important reminder that the work we do together is crucial to our community. In collaboration with our Grantee Partners and our Donors, we are helping women access basic education, enroll in workforce development programs, get new jobs, access financial education programs and find high-quality and affordable early care and education for their children. Recognizing that gender matters, we are investing in women, and in doing so we impact entire families and communities.

Statement from Prosperity Together Regarding President Obama’s FY17 Budget

Posted on February 10, 2016February 10, 2016 by WAWF

Statement from Prosperity Together Regarding President Obama’s FY17 Budget

Nonpartisan, National Coalition of Women’s Foundations Strongly Supports President Obama’s Budget Provisions Expanding Opportunities for Women and Working Families

Prosperity Together, a nonpartisan coalition of public women’s foundations from across the country announced today its support of the investments outlined in President Obama’s Budget to expand opportunity, promote equality and build economic stability for women and working families in America. These efforts include: expanding paid leave, promoting equal pay for equal work, enforcing worker protection laws, increasing the minimum wage, supporting women-owned businesses, creating pathways to high-growth jobs and ensuring access to quality, affordable healthcare, housing and early care and education.

Prosperity Together applauds the President’s continued commitment to community-based solutions that partner government with philanthropy and corporations to create pathways to economic security for low-income women in America.

“In our region, Washington Area Women’s Foundation serves as the only donor-supported, public foundation solely focused on improving the economic security of women and girls,” said Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat, president and CEO of Washington Area Women’s Foundation. “We commend the President’s leadership in taking a number of steps to expand opportunities for women and families, which will have positive ripple effect across entire communities. We believe that when women are strong, communities are strong.”

This year, Washington Area Women’s Foundation awarded $820,000 in grants to 22 local nonprofits dedicated to improving the economic security of low-income women and girls in the Washington metropolitan region. This grant docket follows the collective funding commitment of Prosperity Together and will reach more than 4,000 women and girls in the region, potentially increasing their collective assets and incomes by nearly $4.5 million over the next year alone.

About Prosperity Together

Prosperity Together is a nonpartisan coalition of public women’s foundations from across the country dedicated to improving the economic security of low-income women and their families. On November 13 at The White House, Prosperity Together announced a five-year, $100 million funding commitment to invest in programs and strategies that will create pathways to economic security for low-income women in America. Prosperity Together demonstrates the critical role and power of women’s foundations to drive this work in communities, state by state, across the country. For more information, click here.

About Washington Area Women’s Foundation

Washington Area Women’s Foundation is a DC-based public foundation dedicated to mobilizing our community to ensure that economically vulnerable women and girls in the Washington region have the resources they need to thrive. Learn more about The Women’s Foundation’s mission to transform the lives of women and girls, the Washington region, and the world by visiting us online, on Facebook or on Twitter.

###

Two-Generation Pilot Program Launching Summer 2015

Posted on May 7, 2015July 31, 2015 by Lauren Stillwell

In the fall of 2013, The Women’s Foundation announced a new strategy – one that sought to invest in the long-term economic security of girls in our region. We asked organizations to consider how they could support middle school girls specifically (an important time for decisions about health, education, and relationships – but a time period that is often under-resourced and under-funded). We also specifically asked organizations to consider how they could invest in these girls AND invest in their mothers, grandmothers, aunts… whomever was their family caregiver. The idea is to invest in two generations simultaneously, helping to improve prospects for both family economic security in the short-term and girls’ economic security in the long-term.

Flash forward to today, and a pilot of this model is preparing to launch in DC. College Success Foundation-DC and the YWCA of the National Capital Area are partnering to leverage each organization’s core strengths and services, building a program that holistically engages middle school girls and their families. Their first partner school site is Chavez Prep Middle School in Columbia Heights. There, staff from College Success and the YWCA are banding together with an initiative to provide particular programs and supports for girls. A tailored curriculum will support girls’ education and on-time grade progression, leadership development, and healthy choices, while also connecting mothers to education and job training, financial tools, case management and other supportive services that can help strengthen the family’s economic security.

The program also has a special emphasis on strengthening the relationship between daughter and mother. For example, following girls-only and mother-only group breakout sessions, there are opportunities to come back together in facilitated group activities and discussion – on topics about health, communication, or education. Likewise, there are opportunities for mothers and daughters to experience things like their first college campus visit in “safe” ways. For a girl, these visits help her envision all the possibilities for her future. For a mom, these visits offer an opportunity to visit a campus together with other moms, consider the future college experience that’s possible for her daughter but may be foreign to her, and to think about her own interests in education or workforce training.

At a recent Women’s Foundation briefing for investors in this work, a moderated panel included students from Chavez Prep. As one student explained it, she saw great strength in her family. Women were the matriarchs and anchors in her life. But as an immigrant family, she knew her mom and others didn’t have the skills that they needed in the US, to contribute to the community how she knew they could. She loved the afterschool program where she could be with other girls and talk about important topics. She couldn’t wait for her mom to be able to engage meaningfully in a program like this too, and for them to do it together.

We look forward to updating you on the results of this summer’s pilot program, and then the next steps to take lessons learned and launch the program on a larger scale, to serve more women and girls in our community. In the meantime, check out the new research we just released on the status of girls in the Washington region. And if you’re interested in investing to make this work a success, contact Megan Machnik at mmachnik@wawf.org.

The Women’s Foundation was selected to be part of the Ascend Network, based out of the Aspen Institute. We’re one of 58 organizations selected from 24 states and the District of Columbia, representing the leading edge of a national movement around two-generation approaches. Learn more here.

Investing in Girls in the Washington Region

Posted on January 1, 2015July 31, 2015 by Lauren Stillwell

Download the complete Girls Issue Brief here: Girls Issue Brief 2015

In 2005, The Women’s Foundation launched Stepping Stones, a multi-year, regional initiative focused on building the economic security of low-income women and girls. Grant investments support key issues identified in our Portrait Project research as pivotal to economic security: jobs and career readiness, financial education and wealth creation opportunities, and quality early care and education.

Historically, Stepping Stones investments have focused on building the economic security of low-income women – and particularly female-headed households, which research has shown are the most economically vulnerable families in our community. However, for many women and girls in our region, poverty is multigenerational. The Women’s Foundation recently expanded its target population to take a life cycle approach, and now includes all women and girls under 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Through our Stepping Stones work, the Foundation then launched a new strategy in 2013 for investing in our community’s girls.

A Snapshot of the Issue

As young girls develop into women, there are clear and critical markers that can support or challenge their future economic security. Adolescence is an important opportunity to build foundational skills, encourage positive choices, and reinforce girls’ health and well-being so that they can attain economic security in adulthood.

Key goals for investing in girls are to:

– Empower girls as social change agents
Girls are an asset to our community, and have the potential to shape and lead change in their families and neighborhoods. Girls should be encouraged to advocate for themselves, for others, and to mobilize their communities in meaningful ways. By supporting the positive development of girls, we can break the cycle of generational poverty, and build racial and gender equity in our region.

– Support high school completion
As of 2008, one in ten girls in the region did not complete high school. For girls of color in our region, the disparities are glaring: while 6 percent of white girls did not complete high school, 37 percent of Latina girls, 14 percent of Asian girls, and 12 percent of African American girls did not complete high school.[i]

High school graduation is a critical determinant of economic security, affecting long-term earning potential. By 2018, it is projected that only 8 percent of job openings in Maryland, and 9 percent of job openings in DC and Virginia, will be available for high school dropouts.[ii] With a high school diploma, workers can earn 82 percent more than those who did not complete high school.[iii]

– Encourage positive choices that decrease risky behavior and early pregnancy, and increase health and well-being
Girls who become teen parents are more likely to drop out of school, earn less, and live in poverty. Only 40 percent of teen mothers are likely to have graduated from high school and just 2 percent of girls who have children before age 18 finish college by age 30.[iv]

While teen pregnancy rates are dropping nationally and in the region, rates in parts of the region remain some of the highest in the country. Furthermore, despite reductions in the teen pregnancy rate, the overall number of teen births remains stubbornly high in some communities. For example, in 2011 in the District, 58% of all births to teens aged 15-19 were in Wards 7 and 8.[v]

Our Approach

In our research, we found a dearth of programs focused on girls in general – and especially girls in middle school – as well as a lack of data or research on issues facing girls. This critical gap made it clear that it was important to target our initial investments to focus on middle school aged girls.

To translate the key goals for investing in girls:

– For middle school aged girls, supporting high school completion in the long-term means supporting academic readiness, encouraging school engagement, providing opportunities for college and career exposure, and developing 21^st century skills and competencies that help girls build a positive vision for their futures and ensure that they are prepared for tomorrow’s economy.

– For middle school aged girls, encouraging positive choices that decrease risky behavior and early pregnancy means providing leadership development opportunities that build a positive sense of self, fostering relationships with parents and caring adults that provide support and guidance, and increasing access to comprehensive sex education. Additionally, a focus on girls’ health and well-being includes good nutrition, physical exercise, and the importance of positive body image.

Furthermore, beyond supporting girls alone, The Women’s Foundation asserts that there is a need for two-generation strategies – that is, strategies that simultaneously work to improve the economic security of girls and their mothers together. Despite promising research that two-generation programs and policies can help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, our research could not identify any significant program that combines a two-generation approach with an intentional effort to reach the critical demographic of middle school girls. Through a cohort model – working with both girls and their mothers or female caregivers – The Foundation seeks to spark new strategies, support programs bringing a gender lens to this work, and understand changes in positive outcomes and economic security that exceed isolated work with youth or their parents.

Finally, The Women’s Foundation will begin its investments with a targeted place-based approach, focused on Washington, DC and Prince George’s County, Maryland. While the Foundation recognizes significant poverty rates in every jurisdiction in our region, this narrow geography will allow for an initial focus on neighborhoods with the greatest density of girls and women in need, and allow for tailored, deep work within each community.

For More Information

Contact Program Officer Lauren Stillwell at lstillwell@wawf.org or 202.347.7737.

________________________________________________________________________________________

[i] 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Washington Area Women’s Foundation. 2010. PDF File. Web. 24 Sep 2013. <http://staging.thewomensfoundation.org/wp-content/themes/wawf/images/Portrait_Project_2010_Complete_Report.pdf>.

[ii] Carnevale, Anthony P., Nicole Smith, and John Strohl. Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, June 2010. PDF File. p. 121-122. Web. 24 Sep 2013. <http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/FullReport.pdf>.

[iii] Ibid., p. 95.

[iv] Shuger, Lisa. Teen Pregnancy and High School Dropout: What Communities are Doing to Address These Issues. Washington, DC: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and America’s Promise Alliance, 2012. ASHX file. p. 1. Web. 24 Sep 2013. <http://www.americaspromise.org/News-and-Events/News-and-Features/2012-News/June/~/media/Files/Resources/teen-pregnancy-and-hs-dropout-print.ashx>.

[v] “Data.” DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, n.d. Web. 24 Sep 2013. <http://www.dccampaign.org/#!__data>.

Uncategorized