Report: Teen Pregnancy Down in Hennepin County
Teen pregnancy is down. Hennepin County officials say there’s been a 65 percent drop in teen pregnancies in the last 10 years.
In 2007, there were 1,170 teens that gave birth. In 2018, there were 339 teens that gave birth.
Many factors may have contributed to the change including, Hennepin County’s teen pregnancy prevention program called Better Together Hennepin.
“We feel really good about the work and that we’ve been data driven by using evidence-based programming. We’re being really responsive to young people. And we’re having young people and the community guide our work,” said Emily Scribner-O-Pray with Hennepin County Public Health.
The program educates teens on sexual health and provides them knowledge with a range of options from abstinence to safer sex.
The county also partnered with resources like Annex Teen Clinic in Robbinsdale to deliver information about teen pregnancy and other topics to area youth.
“They deserve a lot of credit for making the healthy choices. They’re taking the information and applying it to their lives and using it in a way that makes sense for them,” said Ellen Saliares with Annex Teen Clinic.
The county program is working under a $1.5 million federal grant. That grant expires in June. The program’s funding future is unknown.
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