Opportunities to monitor title x service quality using family planning annual report (FPAR) data

Two priorities of the Title X Family Planning Program are to expand access to a broad range of acceptable and effective contraceptives and related preventive health services, and to assure that Title X-funded providers deliver these services in accordance with nationally recognized standards of care. The Family Planning Annual Report (FPAR), which is the only source of uniform reporting by Title X services grantees, is one of several mechanisms that the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) uses to monitor program performance in these priority areas. The 14 FPAR reporting tables provide consistent national, regional, state, and grantee-level data on the characteristics of individuals receiving Title X services, provider characteristics and types of services provided, and project revenue. This study demonstrates how FPAR data can be used to examine program performance on selected measures of service quality, specifically use of effective contraceptives by female clients at risk of unintended pregnancy (all ages, teens [<20] and young adults [20 to 29]) and chlamydia screening among women under age 25. For each measure, we use data from 2005 to 2012 to examine national and regional trends, and data for selected years of this 8-year period to examine differences in these measures across states. We will present and discuss factors that hinder and facilitate performance related effective contraceptive use and chlamydia screening in the Title X program, and examine the opportunities and limitations of the current FPAR for monitoring service quality.