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November 2007 Monthly Monitor
Advocates for Youth's Youth of Color Initiative
Feature: Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Since 1991, U.S. teenage pregnancy, abortion, and birth rates have declined steadily in every age and racial/ethnic group. Teenage birth rates declined in every state as well as in the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.[1] Research indicates that sexually active teens are becoming more effective users of contraception and that more teens are choosing to remain abstinent during early and middle adolescence.[2] Nevertheless, the United States continues to have higher rates of teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion than other industrialized nations.[3,4] Teens ages 18 and 19 account for as much as 66 percent of U.S. teen births.[5] Most teenage mothers come from socially and/or economically disadvantaged backgrounds and adolescent motherhood often compounds this disadvantage.[6,7]
The following are some principles of successful pregnancy prevention programs:
- Acknowledge that teen sexual behavior is a complex issue that is often uncomfortable for adults to deal with.
- Create strategies based on the latest research in teen pregnancy.
- Start programs at early ages and provide interventions that reach young people through childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
- Emphasize primary pregnancy prevention for both males and females.
- Recognize that preventing first pregnancies requires different strategies than does reducing subsequent pregnancies.
- Assess the effectiveness and quality of programs and build on existing foundations.
- Ensure that programs are comprehensive, integrated, and multi-faceted.
- Involve community members and teens in program planning, service delivery and education.
- Collaborate with other community sectors, including business, religious organizations and media.
- Set realistic goals based on available resources, definite time frames, and achievable goals.
- Realize that effective pregnancy prevention involves a sequential, though not necessarily linear, developmental process.
- Recognize that long-term sustainability requires a significant investment of time, money, and committed individuals.
- Acknowledge that effective pregnancy prevention efforts involve major challenges and require calculated risks. [8]
References
- Ventura SJ et al. Variations in teenage birth rates, 1991-98: national and state trends. National Vital Statistics Reports 2000; 48(6):1-11.
- Darroch JE, Singh S. Why Is Teenage Pregnancy Declining? The Roles of Abstinence, Sexual Activity, and Contraceptive Use. [Occasional Report, no. 1] New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1999.
- Darroch JE et al. Differences in teenage pregnancy rates among five developed countries: the roles of sexual activity and contraceptive use. Family Planning Perspectives 2001; 33:244-50+.
- UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. A League Table of Teenage Births in Rich Nations. Florence, Italy: The Center, 2001.
- Martin JA et al. Births: final data for 2001. National Vital Statistics Reports 2002; 51(2):1-102.
- Alan Guttmacher Institute. Sex and America's Teenagers. New York: The Institute, 1994.
- Kaufmann RB et al. The decline in US teen pregnancy rates, 1990-1995. Pediatrics 1998; 102:1141-47.
- Advocates for Youth. Communities Responding to the Challenge of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, Washington, DC: 1998
Capacity Building & Professional Development
Register for the 2007 Youth Service Institute: "Surfing the Wave of Change" -- December 12-14 in San Diego, CA. The Institute will unite colleagues from the service, service-learning, and youth development fields for three days of skill-building and innovation. Participants will gain tools and strategies to expand their organizations' impact and scale by engaging in workshops that illustrate the strength and power of the youth service movement. The Institute is the ideal environment for individuals and organizations to further develop their programs while learning inventive ways to engage young people as assets and resources on Global Youth Service Day and throughout the year.
To register or learn more about the Youth Service Institute, please visit http://www.ysa.org/institute or contact Andraéa LaVant at alavant@ysa.org.
The HIV Youth Coalition of Los Angeles County is sponsoring a summit, entitled: "Providers Addressing Young Women's Health Disparities: A Call to Action" on Friday, December 7th, 2007 from 9:00am-3:00pm (registration starts at 8 AM). The summit will be held at El Camino College Compton Community Educational Center (formerly Compton Community College) in Compton, CA.
The summit will focus on issues around HIV and Young Women, ages 12-24. The summit seeks to bridge the gaps between HIV service providers and reproductive healthcare, HIV and domestic/dating violence, HIV and criminal justice, and HIV and substance abuse. The goal of the summit is to create an action plan for best practice and integration for young women ages 12-24. Registration deadline is November 26th, 2007. For more information, please contact: Shelly Brache at 323-361-2390.
The Council of State Governments (CSG) has produced a Healthy States Brief titled "Protecting America's Youth: Schools and Communities Tackle Youth Sexual Risk Behaviors." The brief discusses the consequences of unsafe sex, how states are addressing the problem of teen sexual risk behavior, and actions legislators and activists can take to help improve their states" policies and resources. To view the brief please visit: http://www.healthystates.csg.org/.
If you would like to request bulk copies for use, enter your request on CSG's home page under "Question? Comment?" link at: http://www.healthystates.csg.org/Comments+and+Inquiries/. The brief was produced by CSG through a cooperative agreement with CDC and funding from DASH.
Announcements
Healthy Teen Network invites you to submit your organization's program/services for consideration to be included in a new resource currently in development--Working with Young Families: A Compendium of Promising Practices. Healthy Teen Network is devoted to making a difference in the lives of teens and young families. They are a national organization focused on adolescent health and well-being with an emphasis on teen pregnancy prevention, teen pregnancy, and teen parenting.
Working with Young Families: A Compendium of Promising Practices will serve adolescent reproductive health professionals as a resource, or directory, of promising programs and services for pregnant and parenting teens. All submissions selected for inclusion in the compendium will be notified in spring 2008.
Submissions should be made through the Young Families Promising Practices Survey, available on Healthy Teen Network's website, through Survey Monkey. Surveys will be accepted through Friday, January 18th, 2008. The survey solicits information related to program contact information, goals, objectives, services provided, priority population served, staff and training needs, funding and budget, and evaluation. Submissions will be reviewed and considered for inclusion in the compendium using the Center for Assessment and Policy Development's recommendations for program/service elements, available online: http://www.capd.org/pubfiles/pub-1996-10-12.pdf. For the purposes of this compendium, a "promising practice" will be defined as one that may not have been formally or rigorously evaluated but, based on the CAPD guidelines, provides some of the recommended services and can show some evaluation results that it is achieving the subsequent positive outcomes.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Gina Desiderio at Healthy Teen Network at Gina@HealthyTeenNetwork.org or 202-547-8814.
CDC's Centers and Divisions have developed a wide variety of science-based and other instructional materials that can help schools enhance existing health education curriculum and instruction. CDC's School Health Education Resources (SHER) is a unique, user-friendly web tool that consolidates these resources in one convenient location. SHER helps Pre-K-12 classroom teachers, school nurses, counselors, curriculum directors, and school administrators easily locate CDC's health education resources.
SHER features instructional materials aligned with the National Health Education Standards, Second Edition, 2007, and CDC's Characteristics of Effective Health Education Curriculum. The online database is searchable by:
- Health education topics commonly found in a comprehensive school health education curriculum.
- Four types of resources (curriculum and lessons, teacher instructional materials, student materials, and fact sheets).
- Grade level groupings (Pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12).
SHER provides the sole comprehensive, user-friendly place to browse and access these resources at CDC. Visit CDC's SHER online at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/SHER.
Resources
For more resources on teen pregnancy prevention, please visit the following resources:
You can help Advocates for Youth with a contribution today. To donate, visit http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/donatetoday.htm
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