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Giving Hope and Support to America's Children
News Release - Teen Pregnancy
HHS NEWS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: HHS Press Office January 6, 1997 (202) 690-6343 SECRETARY SHALALA LAUNCHES NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCY; NEW STATE-BY-STATE DATA SHOW DECLINES IN TEEN BIRTH RATES HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today launched the National Strategy to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, a comprehensive new plan to prevent teen pregnancies and support and encourage adolescents to remain abstinent. In launching the strategy, the Secretary cited new data showing that the majority of states experienced a decline in teen birth rates from 1991 to 1994. The new effort is in response to a call from the President and Congress for a national strategy to prevent out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies and to a directive, under the welfare law signed by President Clinton in August, to assure that at least 25 percent of communities in this country have teen pregnancy prevention programs in place. According to today's report, HHS estimates that HHS-supported programs alone already reach at least 30 percent, or about 1,410, communities across the country. "This critical strategy expands on the many innovative programs and public-private partnerships the Clinton Administration has supported to prevent teen pregnancy," Secretary Shalala said. "Preventing teen pregnancy has always been a top priority of the Clinton Administration and we are encouraged that teen birth rates are starting to decline. However, we are committed to strengthening ongoing efforts to engage every community in America to work together to prevent teen pregnancy and send a strong message to our children that postponing sexual activity, staying in school, and preparing to work are the right things to do." The new strategy will strengthen the Department's ongoing efforts to assure that every community in the country is working to prevent out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies by: increasing opportunities through welfare reform; supporting promising approaches; building public-private partnerships; improving data collection, research and evaluation; and disseminating information on innovative and effective practices. The national strategy will place a special emphasis on encouraging abstinence, especially among 9- to 14-year-old girls, through HHS' new Girl Power! campaign. The Girl Power! abstinence education initiative will engage all HHS teen pregnancy prevention and related youth programs in sustained efforts to promote abstinence among 9- to 14-year-old girls, and it will include a national media campaign to involve parents and caring adults in sending a strong abstinence message across the country. - 2 - The Department of Health and Human Services currently supports a variety of efforts to help communities develop comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention strategies that reflect five principles: parental and adult involvement; strong messages of abstinence and personal responsibility; clear strategies for young people's futures; involvement by all facets of the community; and a sustained commitment to young people. Recent declines in the teen birth rate, and indications of further declines in the teen pregnancy rate, suggest that the teen pregnancy prevention efforts taking place across the country are having a positive impact. According to the latest state-by-state statistics on teen births, 37 states had a sustained decline in their teen birth rates between 1991 and 1994. Twenty-one of these states had declines of between 5 and 10 percent, and 10 states had declines of more than 10 percent over this period. Overall, the birth rate for teens aged 15-19 declined for the fourth straight year, decreasing by 8 percent between 1991 and 1995. Each year about 200,000 teenagers aged 17 and younger have children. Their babies are often low-birth weight and have disproportionately high infant mortality rates. They are also far more likely to be poor. Estimates indicate that over half the mothers who receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) were teenagers when they had their first child. Therefore, preventing teen pregnancy has been a critical part of the Clinton Administration's approach to welfare reform and efforts to strengthen American families. Under the new welfare law, unmarried minor parents will be required to live with a responsible adult or in an adult-supervised setting and participate in educational and training activities in order to receive assistance. Starting in FY 1998, the welfare law also provides $50 million a year in new funding for state abstinence education activities. In addition, the new law includes the tough child support enforcement measures President Clinton proposed in 1994, which will send the strongest possible message to young girls and boys that they should not have children until they are ready to provide for them. Last year, President Clinton challenged parents and leaders to join together in a national campaign against teen pregnancy. A group of prominent Americans responded to that challenge, forming the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. HHS will work with the National Campaign in implementing the new national strategy to prevent teen pregnancy. ### Download FREE Adobe Acrobat® Reader™ to view PDF files located on this site.
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