MDCH awards $1.4 million to Teen Pregnancy
Prevention Programming
The Michigan Department of
Community Health (MDCH)
has awarded more than $1.4 million to four recipients of the
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI). These awards will
expand the teen pregnancy prevention program at MDCH, which
currently includes the Michigan Abstinence Program, Child and
Adolescent Health Center Program, Michigan Model for Health
Program, and Family Planning Services.
The goal of the TPPI is to reduce the rate of teen pregnancy in
Michigan. The new awardees will provide comprehensive
evidence-based pregnancy prevention programs to youth 10-18
years of age that target factors that lead to the delayed
initiation of sex as well as promoting and encouraging
abstinence as the safest choice. |
 |
Each recipient will receive about $50,000 through the end of the
2008-2009 fiscal year. They will then receive $100,000 each
every fiscal year through Sept. 30, 2012. The newly funded TPPI
awardees include: Baldwin Family Health Care, District Health
Department #10, Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan,
Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan
Each grantee is expected to serve between 250 and 1,000 youth
per year, develop and/or maintain an advisory council, which is
representative of the diversity of the community, implement
programming that impacts the knowledge, skills, attitudes and
beliefs proven to lower rates of teen pregnancy and provide a
minimum of 14 hours of structured programming per youth.
The rate of teen pregnancy (per 1,000) in Michigan has been
declining since at least 1996. The rate for 10-14 year olds
declined from 1.8 in 1996 to 1.0 in 2006. For 15-17 year olds,
the rate declined from 47.0 in 1996 to 28.2 in 2006.
Overall, Michigan has had a 44 percent decrease for 10-14 year
olds and a 40 percent decrease for 15-17 year olds from
1996-2006.
While this is good news, recently released national statistics
show that the teen birth and pregnancy rates have increased for
the past two consecutive years for the U.S. as well as
Michigan. These statistics have overshadowed the continuous
decline in pregnancy rates since 1996.
While this decline is evidence that the teen pregnancy
prevention programs have been working, as long as there are
unintended teen pregnancies and births occurring, there is more
work to be done. MDCH continues to monitor future trends to
determine whether the recent increase in teen births and
pregnancy rates is an isolated occurrence or
the beginning of a reversal in our downward trend.
These awards serve to strengthen and grow a successful statewide
teen pregnancy prevention program. For more information on the
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, please contact Kara
Anderson, Michigan Department of Community Health at
(517) 373-3864 or
andersonk10@michigan.gov. |
