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It Happened. What We Warned About Is Here. Federal Funding Cuts Hit PATCH.

Updated: 7 hours ago

Here's what you need to know from Sara Finger, Executive Director, Embolden WI


Last June, I wrote about the uniquely cruel new threats facing nonprofits like ours. I described the anxiety, the instability, and the uncertainty that the Trump administration had already unleashed on the sector. I wrote about how Embolden WI was not immune, that almost all of our funding for the Providers and Teens Communicating for Health (PATCH) Program comes from federal sources, and that we had already been warned that critical grants were at risk.


I wish I had been wrong. 


On June 26, 2026, the Trump administration terminated 53 of 67 Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants nationwide, effective immediately. Wisconsin's Department of Health Services, which held the federal TPP award and passed funding to community organizations across the state, received its termination notice the same day. So did PATCH.


For us, that means $130,000 in funding is gone. And we are not okay with that. But we are not going anywhere either.


What PATCH is and why it matters more than ever

In 15 years, nearly 300 Wisconsin teens have come through our program. We hire them. We train them. We pay them. And then we watch them walk into rooms full of health care professionals and change how those adults think about the young people they serve.

But don't take my word for it. Listen to the young people who lived it.


"The whole PATCH team changed my life when I was 16. I will always be so grateful for the chance they took on me and I will take the values I built and fueled from PATCH with me for the rest of my career, the rest of my life."

"PATCH made me realize how passionate and interested in adolescent health I am and now I work with it every single day as a nurse. Absolutely PATCH led to this career for me."
"Leading workshops for health care professionals was an amazing experience. I never would have thought professionals would or could learn from youth in that way. It was an empowering experience to know the impact I could have advocating for myself and fellow youth."
"By FAR the best job. I joined over a decade ago, and yet PATCH is still the best boss, mentorship structure, and culture I have ever experienced in a job. I grew so much without the painful growing pains, but instead a community of support."

These are not cherry-picked outliers. An independent 2024 evaluation of 104 Wisconsin PATCH alumni found statistically significant gains across every area studied, including healthcare confidence, advocacy skills, self-worth, health and wellbeing knowledge, job readiness, and understanding of public health systems. We received over 100 pages of responses from alumni sharing what this program meant to their lives. The numbers tell one story. The words tell another. Together, they make an undeniable case.


Alumni have become nurses, physicians, and physician assistants because of PATCH. Others have gone on to become advocates, community leaders, and public health professionals. They carry what they learned here into everything they do, and the ripple effects reach far beyond any one program or any one grant. 


This work is not just valuable. Right now, with federal priorities shifting toward ideological agendas and away from evidence, this work is more necessary than ever. Young people in Wisconsin deserve health care providers who know how to talk to them. They deserve a seat at the table. PATCH makes that possible, and we are committed to making sure it continues.

What happened and why it's wrong

The stated justification for these TPP terminations is that programs "normalize or promote sexual activity for minors." That framing is deliberately vague, designed to sweep in anything the administration wants to eliminate regardless of what programs actually do. PATCH's work is about youth voice, health communication, and leadership. It is evidence-based, rigorously evaluated, and proven to work. Our alumni prove it every single day.


Teen birth rates have fallen 72 percent since 2007. That is one of the most significant public health achievements of the past two decades, built program by program, community by community, through sustained federal investment in what works. The administration just pulled the plug on that investment, not because the programs failed, but because they succeeded on behalf of young people this administration has decided don't deserve that support.


What makes this particularly frustrating is the method and the message. Our TPP contract was approaching its natural expiration, and PATCH was anticipating a continuation contract that would allow this work to go forward. That expectation was not naive. It was based on years of demonstrated results and a federal program designed to sustain evidence-based work over time. Instead, we received a termination notice with no path forward, no transition support, and no opportunity to responsibly plan for what comes next.


PATCH is not the only Wisconsin organization affected. More than a dozen community organizations, public health departments, and statewide partners across Wisconsin received the same notice on the same day. This is a statewide public health crisis.


Where we go from here

Wisconsin's Department of Health Services has signaled it is assessing all available options to push back on the federal government's actions. Legal challenges to TPP terminations have succeeded before. During Trump's first term, courts ruled five times that the administration acted unlawfully, and the government dropped its appeals every time. We are watching that space closely and staying in close contact with our state partners.


We are also watching the broader federal landscape carefully. There are other funding streams that support PATCH's work in Wisconsin, and the uncertainty is real. We will continue to be honest with you about what we know as we know it.


What I want you to hear most clearly is this: Embolden WI is fully committed to sustaining and strengthening PATCH. This program is not going away. Wisconsin's young people need it too much. The teens who have come through this program, and the ones who are coming next, deserve our full commitment. And they have it.


What we need now is our community to stand with us as we navigate this moment and build toward what comes next.


Here's how you can help

When I read those alumni quotes, I think about the young person who might have written them next year, or five years from now, if we keep this program going. That is what is at stake. That is why your support matters so much right now.


Donate to PATCH today at patchprogram.org/donate. Every gift, at any level, goes directly toward sustaining this work for Wisconsin teens.


If you've been thinking about becoming a monthly supporter of Embolden WI, now is the time. Our Foster the Future Fund, just $10 a month, provides the unrestricted, reliable support that lets us respond to moments exactly like this one. Sign up at emboldenwi.org/about/supportemboldenwi.


Share this post. Talk about PATCH. Tell people what it does and what it means for Wisconsin teens. Public awareness is its own form of power.


And call your legislators. Let them know that cutting evidence-based programs for young people has real consequences for real communities across Wisconsin. They need to hear from you. You can easily speak out by linking here.


The work continues. We need you with us.






Learn more about this devastating cut to the TPP program:



 
 
 

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