PRESS RELEASE: Indianapolis, Indiana. The Indiana Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services Program, administered by the nonprofit Real Alternatives, is celebrating its 10th year providing life-affirming counseling, mentoring and support services to Hoosier women.
The life-affirming taxpayer-funded program, started during Governor Pence’s administration, continues through Governor Holcomb’s administration with great success. The program received $3.5 Million in Fiscal Year 23-24 and an additional $2 million during the August 2022 Legislative Special Session.
That same calendar year 2023, the Indiana State Department of Health reported resident abortions dropped 3.4% to 7,013.
Since its start in November 2014, Indiana’s Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services Program has served over 114,000 women. Kevin Bagatta, President and CEO of Real Alternatives said, “Thanks to this comprehensive state-wide program, Hoosier women have another person to assist them during their pregnancy which empowers them to overcome obstacles and pressures so they can provide a healthy life for their preborn baby.”
Real Alternatives partners with a growing network of 32 pregnancy support centers and social service agencies throughout Indiana to provide caring, compassionate, and trained counselors who offer free pregnancy support and parenting education services to women. Hoosier women from 90 counties receive services from the moment they find out they are pregnant through 24 months after the birth of the baby. The Program’s administrative cost ratio for Fiscal Year 22-23 was a low 8.0%.
Real Alternatives Vice President, Thomas Lang, pointed out, “Pregnancy support centers and social service agencies in Indiana provided 250 counselors statewide dedicated to serving 14,240 women in calendar year 2023. They lovingly encourage and compassionately provide support where each woman’s needs direct.”
Besides tremendous support, program outcomes are outstanding and more than pay for this taxpayer-funded program. In the last fiscal year, comprehensive counseling and encouragement lead to 607 clients’ children having up-to-date immunizations saving taxpayers over $17.7 million in medical costs. Counselor referrals to pre-natal care for 10,516 clients lead to savings of $283 million in medical costs.
In addition to Indiana, Real Alternatives has been administering statewide life-affirming pregnancy support services for 28 years – including programs in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Those high performance and fiscally accountable programs together assisted over 480,000 women in need who sought out the Program’s services.