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Governor's Council on
Adolescent Pregnancy
AnnualReport -1992
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PAGE
Letter from the Chairman
|
Introduction
•
Strategies for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention
1
Highlights of 1992
4
Research
6
•
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Technical Assistance
Public Policy
Public Information
7
"
9
11
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Conclusion
12
•
Recommendations
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Governor's Council on Adolescent
Pregnancy Members
Appendix
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Data
Major Newspaper Articles on the Council
14-15
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'VERNOR'S COUNCIL ON AAO^^
3tHe of Maryland
A/illiam Donald Schaefer, Governor
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PREGNANCY
Quentin R. Lawson, Chairman
April, 1993
Dear Council Member:
I am pleased to submit the 1992 Annual Report of the Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy and
to share with you the good news that teenage pregnancies in the state are on the decline!
Reports from the state department of vital statistics indicate that births to young women 18 years of
age and under decreased by 13.7% and abortions decreased 16.8% for the same population. In
addition, independent studies by at least two national organizations (Kids Count Data Book 1992 and
1993 produced by the Center for Social Policy, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 1993 Child
Trends report on adolescent childbearing), support this data.
Perhaps the most outstanding accomplishment of the Governor's Council is its growing national and
international reputation as a model for teen pregnancy prevention. It has responded to more than 700
inquires from 49 states and 6 foreign countries for Campaign For Our Children materials and provided
technical assistance to Virginia, New York, Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan as well as London, England.
The highlights of our 1992 accomplishments include:
•
•
•
•
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•
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In Maryland, the Governor's Council has obtained a federal match of state
funds to expand the Campaign
lobbied for and received additional family pjanning services for teenagers
trained more than 300 school and juvenile service personnel on adolescent
sexuality issues
distributed more than 125,000 Teen Helpcards, bookmarks, PACT! brochures
and posters
received 18,000 calls on the COPELINE telephone information line,
increased by 229% the number of teenagers receiving family planning services
through its teen clinics; and
received an outstanding achievement award from the National Organization of
Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention for its work.
I am sure you will join me in expressing our sincere gratitude to the staff for the hard and relentless
work.
Sincerely,
/Quentin R. Lawson
Chairman
QRL:scb
One Market Center, 300 W. Lexington Street, Box 11, Baltimore MD 21201 (410) 333-0270 Fax#: 410-333-6674
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The Governor's Council on
Adolescent Pregnancy
The Governor's Council On Adolescent Pregnancy was established in 1986 by state
law to develop a comprehensive action plan that would reduce teen pregnancy in
Maryland. This comprehensive plan would generate and evaluate programs
along with policies as effective measures to reduce teen pregnancy and promote
positive outcomes for teen parents and their babies by mobilizing public and
private resources. The Council consists of members appointed by the Governor
which include cabinet secretaries, members of the General Assembly and
representatives from the community, academia, local government and the private
sector.
State law requires the Governor's Council On Adolescent Pregnancy to conduct a
thorough examination of all programs and laws addressed to the issue of teen
pregnancy and its prevention. The Council performs its duty by holding hearings
to allow interested parties to express their views on teen pregnancy, conducting
discussions to examine the existing laws and services relating to teen pregnancy,
analyzing problems associated with existing laws and programs and by examining
the financial aspects and quality of services provided to adolescents.
More specifically, the law charges the Council to ensure the development of a
coordinated and comprehensive statewide approach to the social, educational,
economic, health and legal problems of adolescent pregnancy and parenthood.
The Council must also work in cooperation with state and local agencies in an
effort to improve the quality of federal and state funded programs for teens. The
Council has to collect and analyze data on the effectiveness of existing prevention
programs. In addition, the Council must provide technical assistance to public and
private organizations seeking help in implementing teen pregnancy prevention
programs and award Community Incentive Grants (CIGs) to comprehensive
community-based prevention programs targeted toward at-risk teens.
STRATEGIES
Since the creation of the Council, the number of adolescent births have dropped
while the national averages have risen. For 1989 and 1990, the number of
adolescent births decreased by more than 10% and the number of abortions fell by
more than 16% which indicates that adolescents are delaying sexual activity and
sexually active adolescents are using contraceptives. These improvements in the
teen pregnancy rates are the result of the Council's four main strategies which pull
together government, the private sector and the community to prevent teen
pregnancy. The strategies are:
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1. Delay Sexual Initiation
The Council seeks to promote abstinence among youth aged 9 to 14 who have not
had sex through Campaign For Our Children. As a public-private partnership,
Campaign For Our Children uses television and radio commercials, posters,
billboards and bus placards to promote abstinence and build self-esteem. The
Campaign stresses abstinence by focusing on the consequences of having sex such
as an unplanned pregnancy, the heavy financial responsibility of baby, a limited
social life as a result of having a baby and the possibility of contracting sexually
transmitted diseases including AIDS.
Since its creation in 1988, Campaign For Our Children has been very effective in
promoting abstinence. In fact, many states across the country have brought CFOC
materials. The Campaign materials are being used in over 90% of the school
systems in Maryland, in addition to being used in local health departments, clinics
and community recreation centers. This year, the Campaign has expanded its
efforts by developing a news AIDS commercial and poster. The Campaign is also
looking into the possibility of using its commercials on Channel 1 in Maryland,
Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
In addition to CFOC, the Council supports family life education which helps
young people make responsible decisions by providing them with accurate and
age-appropriate information about human sexuality. Teens who have an
understanding of human sexuality and development are less likely to become teen
parents. The Maryland family life education curriculum focuses on interpersonal
relationships, physiological and personality changes and advances physiology with
psychology of human sexual behavior. To ensure that the family life education
curriculum stays in pace with our changing society, the Council reviews the
curriculum and provides training for family life educators.
2. Expand Family Planning Services for Sexually Active Teens
The Council has sought to make family planning services available and accessible
to all sexually active teens. Family planning services include health education and
birth control counseling and pregnancy testing with counseling. These services
are available to teens at little to no cost and the clinics are open evening and
weekend hours to be more accessible. In continuing its efforts to promote
responsible behavior among sexually active teens, the Council supports the State
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of Maryland's Three-For-Free condom distribution program as a component of
teen pregnancy prevention. The program aims to distribute condoms in an
anonymous, accessible manner to individuals who are at high risk of pregnancy,
sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection. Since 1986, the program has
given away over 3 million condoms statewide. In addition, the Council has
lobbied the Maryland General Assembly for $2 million in funding for
familyplanning services for teenagers. The funding has been used to establish,
among other things, the Healthy Teens and Young Adults program in areas with
high teen pregnancy rates such as Baltimore City, Prince Georges and Anne
Arundel counties where reproductive health clinics are tailored to meet the
specific needs of these areas. This innovative program also stresses male
responsibility in reproductive decisions.
In order to address the problem of adolescent health, the Council advocated the
establishment of school-based health clinics in middle schools and high schools in
areas of the state where adolescents are medically underserved. These clinics
provide basic health care for teens such as physical exams for sports, dental
screenings, first aid, etc. with involvement from the community. It became
apparent that a significant number of students were sexually active, so the Council
advocated that the clinics provide contraceptive services, sexually transmitted
disease screenings and pregnancy tests in the school-based clinics with the support
of parents, educators and the communities. Currently there are ten school-based
clinics and two school-linked clinics in Baltimore City, Baltimore and Howard
Counties. It is anticipated that during 1993, two additional clinics will open.
3. Support Parents as Primary Sexuality Educators
Parents should act as the primary sexuality educators for their children because
they can impart their personal values and morals to their children. As a result,
the Council implemented PACT! (Parents and Children Talking) to encourage
parent-child communication about sexuality issues. Communities hold PACT!
activities to educate parents about teen sexuality and teen pregnancy. Each year
more than 150 PACT! events take place across the state in schools, health
departments, churches and youth service organizations. Some communities have
designated one night where parents and children can communicate about these
issues. The Council provides posters with lesson plans, brochures and any other
materials which will make this communication easier for parents.
4. Encourage Community Involvement in Prevention Efforts
In order to encourage community involvement, the Council awards Community
Incentive Grants (CIGs) on a competitive basis to long term, comprehensive
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community-based programs targeted at high risk teens. The programs have been
quite effective because they meet the special needs of that community and they
focus on building self esteem, delaying sexual activity and providing an
information and referral base on teen pregnancy prevention services.
Since 1990, the Council has funded these comprehensive community-based
programs aimed at adolescent pregnancy prevention. Each community program
must include comprehensive and intensive health education, individual and
group parenting education, job training and referral, individual and group
counseling, referral to family planning information and services, community
education and collaboration, school involvement and recreational activities. The
community programs have resulted in increased school attendance and fewer teen
pregnancies. Many of these programs have expanded to include a summer session
due to increased teen interest and participation.
5. Promote Positive Outcomes for Pregnant and Parenting Teens
Besides preventing adolescent pregnancy, the Governor's Council on Adolescent
Pregnancy seeks to ensure the healthy development of children born to teenage
parents. To make certain that pregnant teens have healthy babies, the Council has
sought to make prenatal care available and accessible to all pregnant teens through
free pregnancy tests at school-based clinics and neighborhood teen health clinics
and referral to prenatal care services. In an effort to provide teen parents with
parenting education, the Council has .required all community prevention
programs to have such a component as pare of their grant application. To reduce
the likelihood of teen parents having a second baby, the Council has worked for
expansion of family planning services in order to make these services more
available and accessible to teens.
Improving the quality of life for teen families is another important goal of the
Council. To help teen parents finish school, the Council has established two
on-site day care centers at two area high schools for the children of teen parents.
The Council has lobbied for the removal of bureaucratic red tape which may
hamper teens in getting the necessary federal assistance that they desperately need
for their children. The Council has also supported expansion of the Supplemental
Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program which provides
iron and protein rich food supplements for low income pregnant women,
mothers and their children under five years old. As part of a public awareness
campaign, the Council has stressed male financial responsibility to teenage fathers
through Campaign For Our Children commercials and posters as part of a larger
effort to include male involvement in adolescent pregnancy prevention.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF 1992
• The 1992 KIDS COUNT Data Book: State Profiles of Well-Being
revealed that Maryland was one of only six states in the nation
where the number of births to unmarried teens decreased.
Between 1980 and 1989, the number of births to unmarried teens
dropped from 9.6% to 8.6%--a 10% decrease. Nationally, the rates
increased by 14% from 1980 to 1989.
• In November, the National Organization of Teen Pregnancy
Prevention awarded the Governor's Council the Outstanding
Achievement Award for the state's successful teen pregnancy
prevention program.
• The Council worked hard to expand the teen pregnancy
prevention programs of the Maryland State Department of
Education by establishing new prevention programs for high
risk areas, training home economics teachers on sexuality issues
and seeking greater funding for existing programs.
• With the goal of getting increased participation in PACT!
(Parents and Children Talking), the Council changed the
month designated for PACT! activities from October to March
because few school activities take place during this time.
• The Council rewrote the PACT! Handbook so that it will
serve more effectively as a planning guide for PACT! activities,
a guide for parent-child communication and an assessment tool
for evaluating PACT! activities.
• The Council released separate data for Baltimore City and each
county in new editions of Facts About Teen Pregnancy which
will aid local efforts to measure the effectiveness of programs
and design new strategies.
• The Council hosted its 9th Annual Conference on Teen
Pregnancy where about 450 prevention professionals from across
the state shared prevention strategies and they sampled the
newest educational materials aimed at prevention.
• The Council formed new relationships with the United
Way of Central Maryland, the Maryland Legislative Black
Caucus, and OB/GYN Society of Maryland to request support for
the Council's legislative agenda.
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RESEARCH
As mandated by law, the Council must conduct research to measure the
effectiveness of adolescent pregnancy prevention programs and policies in
thestate. Research enables the Council to identify high risk areas and thus,
initiatenew programs or assess existing programs in those areas. The areas of
research conducted by the Council were:
• developed a computerized research tool and protocol for the
Healthy Teens and Young Adults clinics in Maryland in
which surveyed teenager's knowledge about sexuality, birth
control and their lifestyles. Results revealed that more males
visited the clinics, clients learned more about sexuality at
clinics than at home, clients now felt easier about talking to
their parents about sex among other positive findings.
• produced a survey instrument and implemented a research
strategy to evaluate pregnancy prevention programs in
Maryland. This surveying tool allows administrators to gain
insight into the knowledge level, attitudes and behavior of
their clients. It also gives staff the ability to evaluate various
aspects of their programs such as outreach, clinical services
and client education sessions.
• organized a checklist of essential elements for pregnancy
prevention programs based on national and statewide research.
Intensive, comprehensive adolescent pregnancy programs
should offer a surrogate parenting component for teens with
absent parents in which an adult in the community would act as
a second parent to a teen in need of nurturing. The programs
must stress social skills so that teens can learn how to conduct
themselves in a school or work setting and it must connect teens
to the world of work by introducing teens to ordinary working
people through "shadowing" or mentoring activities. Programs
should offer contraceptive services to sexually active teens in an
effort to promote responsible behavior. Finally, programs must
involve the schools and the community as a major component
of its prevention strategy.
• analyzed available data and produced a data report entitled Facts
About Adolescent Pregnancy in Maryland which contains
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information on teen sexual activity, contraceptive use, and a
breakdown of teen births, abortions, education level and martial
status among other variables for Baltimore City and each county.
evaluated year two data from the Council's Community
Incentive Grants (CIG) program which indicated that over
2600 youths participated in these programs and 82 pregnancies
were prevented.
completed data analysis of a statewide survey of school usage
of Campaign For Our Children (CFOC) which revealed that
CFOC materials were used in 95.7% of school health rooms,
91.3% of classrooms where family life and human sexuality
education is taught, 69.6% of guidance offices and 60.9%
school hallways.
presented an analysis of adolescent birth and abortion data by
zip code to representatives of each local Interdepartmental
Committees on Adolescent Pregnancy and trained them on
how to use this information with program targeting and
planning in their county.
provided more technical assistance to counties interested in
developing primary pregnancy" prevention activities by
providing them with data on their county, educating them on
how to use the data to target scarce resources, furnishing
planners with ideas for programs based on current data and
criteria for establishing prevention programs.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
An important component of the Council's prevention strategies is to
providetechnical assistance to any public or private organization working to
prevent teen pregnancy. This technical assistance may include training and
educating staff about proven prevention strategies, helping a group cultivate a
prevention plan for their geographical area or linking professionals to each other
as part of a resource and strategy-sharing network. By providing technical
assistance, the Council can assist an organization in taking their prevention
strategies to the next level in order to achieve greater teen pregnancy prevention.
Highlights of the Council's technical assistance efforts include:
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reformed the Maryland Interdepartmental Committee on
Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting as a subcommittee under
the Governor's Council On Adolescent Pregnancy in order to
support and change the structure of the local Interdepartmental Committees on Adolescent Pregnancy (ICAP) to a
more community-oriented approach. The Council initiated
bi-annual training and prepared a guidebook on community
coalition-building for the local ICAPs.
strengthened linkages with the Maryland State Department
of Education (MSDE) by requesting full funding for a school
health nurse for a MSDE teen pregnancy program in Talbot
County in order to keep the program active, training personnel
involved in MSDE/DCTE grant projects which resulted in a
family planning component being included in next year's grant
application for prevention programs and by providing training
and technical assistance for personnel involved with MSDE
prevention projects.
trained 270 school personnel statewide on adolescent sexuality
issues as it relates to family life education.
fortified a partnership with the Department of Juvenile
Services (DJS) by providing training and education for 40 DJS
staff statewide and 30 committed juvenile females.
worked with the Family Life Education Advisory committees in
Anne Arundel, Allegany, Baltimore, Howard and Washington
counties to change the content of the family life education
curriculum and created a parent involvement section for family
life education, in addition to training all 5th grade family life
educators in Talbot County.
revised the PACT! Handbook by developing 13 new information
sheets about age appropriate teaching of human sexuality for
children and increased PTA support for PACT! by offering
training sessions at PTA conferences and technical assistance
statewide.
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assisted Baltimore City, Western Maryland, Dorchester,
Baltimore and Howard counties in developing their PACT!
plans and provided training for community representatives
on how to conduct PACT! activities.
supported two teen conferences for 600 Eastern Shore and
Western Maryland teens on adolescent pregnancy prevention
as part of the Council's goal to involve teens in developing
strategies to decrease teen pregnancy.
PUBLIC POLICY
The Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy has been most successful in
implementing policy changes in Maryland that have an impact on adolescent
health and pregnancy prevention issues. Indeed, the Council serves as a lightening
rod to all state agencies to examine how their policies affect all youth. Since
itsinception in 1987, the Council has influenced the following policy changes
within state and local government as they relate specifically to our strategies of
preventing teen pregnancy:
• facilitated the rewriting of family life education curriculum
in specific school districts throughout the state.
• obtained 1/2 credit for health education as a requirement for
high school graduation.
• received approval from Health Care Financing Administration
for federal financial participation in "See A Doctor", a teen
health media program.
• secured $8 million in funding for an expansion of family
planning services for teens to include education, counseling,
outreach and contraception services.
• developed and implemented plan to provide Norplant as a
contraceptive service in Maryland's local health departments
and Maryland was the third state in the country to obtain
Medicaid approval for Norplant.
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responsible for provision that requires AFDC workers to
provide every applicant with information on family planning
services.
as a result of the Council, Maryland became the first state to
obtain approval for medical assistance to cover the cost of
condoms.
lobbied the Governor to secure family planning as a priority
in the state health department which has saved these services
from extensive budget cutbacks.
urged the Baltimore City Commissioner of Health to provide
contraceptives in the school-based clinics.
developed an action plan for Prince George's county to hire a
nurse practitioner for teen health clinics, to expand clinic
hours to evenings and weekends, to assist the schools in
strengthening family life education and to fund a model
prevention project.
assisted the Maryland State Department of Education to
expand their teen pregnancy prevention programs in Arundel,
Baltimore and Talbot counties.
secured confidentiality rule which ensures that records of
school health services given in public health clinics remain
confidential from parents.
lobbied for and obtained legislation to establish paternity at
birth.
implemented a "male responsibility" mass media campaign
within Campaign For Our Children effort to increase awareness
of child support payment laws to young men.
secured federal match from Child Support Enforcement
Administration for the male responsibility mass media
campaign.
Page 11
•
obtained funds for two day care programs for children of teen
parents attending Southwestern High School in Baltimore
City and Kenwood High School in Baltimore County.
initiated statewide school policy excusing parenting teens
from school to take their child to a doctor without being
penalized.
•
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PUBLIC INFORMATION
1992 was an unprecedented year of national and local media coverage for its
successful efforts in reducing the number of teen births in Maryland. The Council
has gained a reputation of being the nation's model program for teen pregnancy
prevention. This media attention has aided the Council's attack on teen pregnancy
by letting people in the community know that there is a government agency
addressing the issue of teen pregnancy which will booster community support and
involvement in prevention. Increased media visibility has also helped the
Council to establish working relationships with other government agencies in
Maryland, health departments in other states, national teen pregnancy prevention
organizations, private organizations with prevention goals and businesses which
will greatly aid teen pregnancy prevention efforts statewide. The Council received
the following media coverage:
• Newsweek
• CBS Evening News "Eye on America"
• CBS Morning News
• Good Morning America
• Washington Post
• Christian Science Monitor
• Essence magazine
• Sally Jesse Raphael show
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• Chicago Tribune
• Med-Star Communications
• Catholic News Network
• Sun Radio Network
• Advertising Age Magazine
• Fox Television News
• Augusta Times (Georgia), Couer D'Alene Press (Idaho),
WNDU-TV (Indiana), Times Union and Capital News
(Rochester, NY) printed feature stories on their respective
jurisdiction efforts to implement teen pregnancy prevention
strategies patterned after the successful efforts of Maryland's
Council and CFOC. Bronwyn Mayden and Hal Donofrio
interviewed. In Arkansas, we received newspaper and
broadcast coverage of the state's unveiling of CFOC posters to
address teen pregnancy and child support.
• Local stories on Maryland's efforts have appeared throughout
the year in the following print and broadcast media:
Baltimore SUN, Howard County'SUN, Carroll County SUN,
Carroll County Times, Capitol News, Star Democrat,WJZ-TV,
WBAL-TV, Howard County Cable TV; WBAL, WXYV, WRBS,
WSER, and WEAA Radio.
CONCLUSION
All in all, the year of 1992 has been a positive and constructive year for the
Governor's Council On Adolescent Pregnancy. The Council was able to help
more communities combat teen pregnancy with its multi-approach prevention
strategies. Data indicates that there is a definite decrease in the number of teens
having babies in Maryland which could suggest that teens are delaying sexual
activity or sexually active teens are using birth control. Therefore, the Council
wants to continue implementing its prevention programs and expand them so
that they meet the changing needs of today's teenagers. As a shortfall of state
revenue continues to be a fiscal reality, Maryland must continue its commitment
to fighting teenage pregnancy, so that all the accomplishments of the Council do
not disappear. The. war against teenage pregnancy is ongoing.
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RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE
GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ON ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY
The Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy recommends that the state of
Maryland carry out folio vying actions:
1.
Expand prevention efforts through increased funding for areas with high
rates of teen pregnancy such as Baltimore City, Prince George's and Anne
Arundel counties.
2.
Explore more extensively the male role in responsibility for teen pregnancy by
establishing a task force to examine the effectiveness of existing male
responsibility programs and to design a comprehensive action plan for greater
male responsibility.
3.
Augment programs designed to prevent teen mothers from having a second
baby by increasing funding for more family planning services, job training,
education and day care for the teens and their babies.
4.
Increase the access of teens to family planning services to teens statewide by
allocating more funding for existing clinics and opening more clinics in areas
with limited family planning services and high teen pregnancy rates.
5.
Provide timely, accurate data and analysis to local teen pregnancy
prevention committees so that these" committees can adequately determine
the effectiveness of their programs.
6.
Continue to promote comprehensive family life education in the school
systems of Maryland.
7.
Increase funding for Community Incentive Grants to local community-based
teen pregnancy prevention programs so that these programs can continue to
promote prevention strategies tailored to the needs of the youth in that
community.
8.
Initiate training for school boards across the state with a student
involvement component so that school board members can become more
enlightened about sexuality issues and teen pregnancy prevention.
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Governor's Council on
Adolescent Pregnancy
Members
Quentin R. Lawson, Chairman
Executive Director, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
Allen A. Herman, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Chairman
Visiting Scientist, National Institutes of Health
Child Health & Human Development
'
Charles L. Benton
Secretary, Maryland Budget & Fiscal Planning
"
Kia Coleman
Student Member, Baltimore, Maryland
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Carolyn W. Colvin
Secretary, Maryland Department of Human Resources
Vanessa Cullins, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor, OB/GYN
Francis Scott Key Medical Center
Susan O. Davis, M.Ed.
Adolescent Education Coordinator
Western Maryland Area Health Center
•
Hal Donofrio
President, Richardson, Myers and Donofrio, Inc.
*
Nancy S. Grasmick, Ph.D.
State Superintendent, Maryland State Department of Education
Special Secretary, Governor's Office for Children, Youth & Families
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Governor's Council on
Adolescent Pregnancy
Members Continued
Alain Joffe, M.D., M.P.H.
Director of Adolescent Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Honorable Ruth M. Kirk
State Delegate (39th District)
Baltimore City
Bronwyn W. Mayden, M.S.W.
Executive Director, Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy
_
Kanika Peoples
Student Member, Prince George's County
H
Nelson Sabatini
Secretary, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
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Linda Thompson, Ph.D., R.N.
Chairperson, Maternal & Child Health
School of Nursing, University of Maryland
Vivian E. Washington
Consultant, Baltimore, Maryland
Mark L. Wasserman
Secretary, Maryland Department of Economic
and Employment Development
Appendix
PROVISIONAL DATA
TABLE 18 A. BIRTHS BY AGE OF THE MOTHER. RACE OF MOTHER, REGION, AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISION, MARYLAND. 1990.
AGE OF THE MOTHER - ALL RACES
Area of
Residence
Maryland State
All Ages
Under 15
15-17
18-19
80199
246
2863
5214
5553
430
904
1660
2559
7
0
1
3
3
147
15
36
47
49
408
43
106
138
121
Baltimore Metro Area
Baltimore City
Baltimore County
Anne Arundel
Carroll
Howard
Harford
39390
14354
10213
6778
,1968
3119
2958
152
123
14
9
1
2
3
1692
1181
205
181
24
21
80
2821
1700
477
360
77
68
139
National Capital Area
Montgomery
Prince George's
26174
12773
13401
58
16
42
660
176
404
1207
348
859
Southern Area
Calve rt
Charles
Saint Mary's
3953
862
1739
1352
6
1
3
2
127
23
53
51
309
58
143
108
Eastern Shore Area
Cecil
Kent
Queen Anne's
Caroline
Talbot
Dorchester
Wicomlco
Somerset
Worcester
5129
1184
233
488
424
415
477
1162
272
474
23
0
2
0
2
4
4
6
3
2
237
56
8
18
22
11
29
55
21
17
469
108
12
33
48
34
71
97
37
29
Northwest Area
Garrett
Allegany
Washington
Frederick
Source: Division of Health Statistics. DHMH.
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TEEN PREGNANCY
Ads: One aspect
of broader effort
Continued from 1A
an adman's look at the situation.
First, the state had not allocated nearly enough money.
"He said, 'If you want to do it,
let's do It right,' " said Jeff Davis,
a public relations account executive with the ad agency.
So they sold the program to private corporations, telling them not
to look for a quick fix, but rather a
long-term investment In children.
"We're not going to say it's a
success or not until the five years
are up," Mr. Davis said.
The corporations bought it. It's
year four now and state officials
are proclaiming the campaign a
success.
•'" "We concentrated primarily on
•'BaKimore city," said Erlene
'Wilson, the public affairs director
for the Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy.
.She said in that school system,
thenumber of births to teen mothers has been reduced more than 10
percent. Statewide, that drop is 13
percent.
The program may have been
haying an effect earlier than its
proponents thought. In the annual
Kids Count Data Book released
March 23, Maryland was one of
the very few states that actually
showed a decrease in the teen
pregnancy rate by the end of 1989.
"We're seeing a downward
trend," Ms. Wilson said. "Also
correlating with that is a decrease
in the number of abortions."
And there have been other benefits.
- VNot only are they not becoming pregnant . . . the (school) ab'sen.tee rate has fallen dramatically: Parents are more involved."
• Lynn Jones, the sexuality and
AIDS education coordinator in
Wayne County, Ga., heard about
the program and raised the money
lo have the VIRGIN billboard set
up in downtown Jesup.
.-" • Members of local churches
came up with more than enough
money for it.
"I've had nothing but praise
from the community for it," she
"said. She also believes it has had a
significant impact this school
year. She said that three years
ago, 17 middle school girls became pregnant. This year, that
number Is down to three.
^'•'She said the billboard helped
.''galvanize support for a sex education program that includes information on contraception.
"I have parent meetings all the
< time," she said. "You've got to
We really get involved with
parents in trying to
encourage parents to talk
to their kids about
sexuality.
Erlene Wilson,
governor's council
director
have the parents and you've got to
have the churches."
Mr. Davis said using billboards
and other advertising is simply a
good way to "fight fire with fire."
They hit the public with spots
on radio and television.
"Our TV ads are not the typical
PSA that runs at 2 a.m.," Mr. Davis said. "One's a mother talking
to her son in the kitchen.
'If you think you're ready to
have sex, you better be ready to
be a father . . . You can't even
keep your room clean!" ".
Then there are the billboards,
posters and even newly painted
public buses that proclaim, "Teen
.Pregnancy. It all starts here:
child abuse, crime, alcohol, illiteracy, drop-out, unemployment, low
selkesteem,
drugs,
poverty,
crack, birth defects."
Billboards and bus signs are intended not only to catch the attention of children, but give parents
an opportunity to begin a dialogue
on sex and the responsibilities that
go with it.
That is an integral part of the
program, Ms. Wilson said.
"We really get involved with
parents in trying to encourage
parents to talk to their kids about
sexuality," she said.
There, are brochures on how to
talk to children about sex and the
state has set up an 800 number
parents can call for information.
But not every teen-ager has a
family that will provide the necessary information.
"We fund contraceptive and
family planning services for children," Ms. Wilson said.
Teen clinics have been set up
near schools and in shopping
malls. Health departments have
been asked to offer hours on weekends and other.times convenient
for teens to use.
Has there been much resistance to the program?
"We really don't concern ourselves with this." Ms. Wilson said.
"People don't want teen-agers to
become sexually active."
The state provides information
and money to each school district.