Implementation of the Title X family planning program in Mississippi faced challenges including understaffing, high staff turnover, documentation difficulties, and low patient awareness, while clinic staff reported use of evidence-based practices and potential patients identified needs for person-centered care.
Clinic-based participants reported use of evidence-based practices as a key component of Title X program implementation in Mississippi.
Clinic staff and providers identified multiple challenges to Title X program implementation.
Potential patients identified a need for person-centered approaches to care and increased awareness and availability of Title X services in their communities.
In 2022, Converge: Partners in Access became the sole Title X grantee in the state of Mississippi.
The study used qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews to assess implementation climate, healthcare provision challenges, and opportunities to improve Title X utilization.
This research examined how well Mississippi's Title X family planning program — which provides affordable reproductive and sexual health services — was being implemented after a non-profit organization called Converge became the state's sole program administrator in 2022. Researchers interviewed 22 clinic staff and healthcare providers and 16 potential patients between January and May 2023 to understand what was working, what was not, and how services could be improved. The study found that while clinic staff were using evidence-based care practices, they faced significant operational hurdles including being short-staffed, high employee turnover, difficulty with required paperwork and reporting, and varying levels of capacity across different clinic locations. On the patient side, many people were simply unaware that Title X-funded services existed in their communities, and those who did engage with the system expressed a desire for more personalized, patient-centered care. This research suggests that improving the Title X program in Mississippi will require addressing both the internal operational challenges faced by clinics — such as staffing and documentation burdens — and the external barriers that keep eligible residents from seeking services, particularly through better community outreach and more tailored approaches to care. The findings are intended to help Converge and similar organizations strengthen service delivery and better meet the reproductive and sexual health needs of Mississippians.
Smith E, Sweeney E, Conner A, Thornton I, Mason S. (2025). Evaluation of the Mississippi Title X Family Planning Program in Meeting Reproductive and Sexual Health Needs.. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health. https://doi.org/10.1111/psrh.70035