1. Strategies to Alleviate
Unwanted Teen
Pregnancies within
Families
By: LaKesha M. Griffin

2. Why us?

3. Teenage Pregnancy is associated
with a variety of factors….
The issues related to teen pregnancy
include much broader social,
economic, cultural, and psychological
factors, including poverty, school
failure, and sexual abuse.

4. It affects society as a whole….
 According to the most recent statistics from the
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and
Unplanned Pregnancy many studies have proven
that 50% of teen mothers who are between the
ages of 15 to 17 years of age drop out of high school
and never return and that 80% of them end up
living in poverty and/or on welfare for a very
lengthy period of time.

5. Teen pregnancy has a tremendous
impact upon the economy…..
 According to the most recent statistics from the
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and
Unplanned Pregnancy teen pregnancies cost
taxpayers approximately $10.9 billion nationally
each year.

6. Statistics have proven…..
 Many children that are born to teen mothers are
more likely to have health problems, as well as,
problems at school.
 These children are at a greater risk for abuse and
neglect.
 The sons of teen mothers are 2.7 times more likely
to end up in prison.
 The daughters of teen mothers are 22% more likely
to become teen mothers themselves.

8. Etiology and Causes of Teen Pregnancy
 The lack of parental guidance or concern.
 Some parents are not educated about sex themselves.
 Many parents do not encourage their children to
participate in their conversation when the topic is
regarding sex.
 Parents are too busy leading their own lives to provide
their teens with the guidance and support needed to
make sound decisions about sex.

9. So, they begin to seek
the advice of their
friends which can lead
to their misinformation
about sex.

10. Assessing Teenage Pregnancy
 Resource Inventory
The CROW research team compiled a resource inventory of programs and
services for pregnant or parenting teenagers in Shelby County. Data were
collected from April through December of 2011, and compiled from a range of
sources, including an online database of nonprofit agencies in Memphis,
MemTV partners, the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department Fetal
and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Committee, and other community
collaborators. Resources were checked by calling agencies and services to
confirm information obtained from available sources.
 Survey
An 8‐page, self‐administered survey was developed to elicit a broad range of
information from local teens, including demographic and background
information, sexual history and behavior, pregnancy and parenting history,
family dynamics, and mental health factors. Survey data collection was
completed in Spring 2012 through various community partners who serve
teens. In addition, data were collected from first year students at Southwest
Community College and the University of Memphis. A total of 285 surveys were
completed. Parental Consent was obtained for all participants under the age of
18. Participants who completed the survey received a $10 gift card immediately
upon completing the survey.
(The University of Memphis Center for Research on Women: Examining Issues of Gender and Social Inequality, 2012)

11.  Focus Groups and Case Study Interviews
Eleven focus groups, ranging from 5-35 participants per group, and 8
case studies were undertaken between April 2011 and March 2012 to
better understand the context of adolescent sexuality, pregnancy, risk
prevention, sex education, and programs and services related to
pregnancy and parenting available to adolescents. The research team
developed protocols that focused on the challenges of being a teen
parent; key resources available for family planning, STD prevention,
pregnancy and prenatal care, and parenting; barriers to pregnancy
prevention; and impediments to finishing school and obtaining
employment as a pregnant or parenting teen. Questions were tailored
to the different target populations: 1) teen girls who were pregnant
and/or parenting; 2) teen girls who had never been pregnant; 3) teen
boys; 4) parents of teens; and 5) service providers recruited through
MemTV membership and the Teen Pregnancy and Parenting Success
(TPPS) Initiative funded partners.
(The University of Memphis Center for Research on Women: Examining Issues of Gender and Social Inequality, 2012)

12. Mission
To empower and challenge
teens to live to their ultimate
potential by educating
themselves and avoiding the
consequences of unwanted
pregnancies.

13. Overall Goal
To reduce the number of
unplanned and unwanted
teen pregnancies within
families.

14. Target Population
“At risk youth”
Ages 11 to 17 years old

15. Goals
 1. To conduct/implement age-appropriate personal
responsibility and sexuality education throughout the
Memphis/Shelby County School System.
 2. To educate and engage parents and communities to
initiate opportunities for positive youth development and
involvement.
 3. To implement the ongoing awareness of teenage
pregnancy prevention using multiple modes of
communication.
 4. To provide all local youth with access to reproductive
healthcare, contraceptives, and preventative services.

16. Goal #1: To Conduct/Implement Age Appropriate
Personal Responsibility and Sexuality Education
Educators, national policymakers and program administrators recognize
that youth need to be educated on both abstinence and contraception
for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections,
including HIV/AIDS, along with other adulthood preparation subjects
that include, but are not limited to:
 Healthy relationships, such as positive self-esteem and relationship
dynamics, friendships, dating, romantic involvement, marriage and
family interactions.
 Adolescent development, such as the development of healthy attitudes
and values about adolescent growth and development, body image,
racial and ethnic diversity and other related subjects.
 Financial literacy.
 Parent-child communication.
 Educational and career success, such as developing skills for
employment preparation, job seeking, independent living, financial
self-sufficiency and work-place productivity.
 Healthy life skills, such as goal-setting, decision making, negotiation,
communication and interpersonal skills and stress management.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

17. A previous study found that the
lack of time and lack of materials
were the two most commonly
reported barriers in providing
comprehensive sexuality education
(Hedman, Larsen, & Bohnenblust,
2008)

18. Strategies
 Offer yearly sexuality education classes.
 Use collaborative efforts of policy makers, state
officials and school officials to address the curriculum.
 Require educators to be trained in the specific
curriculum they have chosen to teach personal
responsibility and sexuality education.
 Ensure that sexuality education curriculum is taught
with fidelity.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

19. Objectives
 Provide training and development opportunities for
teenagers through mentoring, leadership opportunities
and education.
 Enroll trained teenagers in educational programs targeting
their peers as well as younger teens.
 Advocate for comprehensive personal responsibility and
sexuality education, including life skills education, to local
school officials, the school board, and parents.
 Maintain frequent and ongoing discussions with local
school officials and policy makers as well as legislators and
the governor to include objective facts regarding the
benefits of personal responsibility and sexuality education
and life skills. This can include writing letters of support
and signing petitions for personal responsibility and
sexuality education.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

20. Goal #2: Educate and engage parents and
communities to initiate opportunities for
positive youth development and
involvement.
Our children are our most valuable resource….
Instead of eliminating programs for teen pregnancy
prevention one must reinvest in the programs that research
has proven to be effective.
Many factors impact the decisions teens make about sex,
relationships, risk-taking behaviors and other life choices.
Parents, school leaders, faith groups and other decision
makers can all play a role to help prevent and reduce teen
pregnancy within the community and in our state as a
whole.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

21. “Parent-child communication
around sex-related topics is
relevant to the promotion of
health.”(Murphy-Erby, Strauss,
Boyas, & Bivens 2011)

22. Strategies
Educate parents and communities
Develop and maintain a network for
communication
Provide community service
opportunities for youth
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

23. Objectives
 Provide information to parents that focus on parenting and
youth development topics.
 Promote male and father involvement by including fathers
on mailing lists and providing father-friendly activities,
including parent education.
 Take advantage of federal, state, and private grants that
may provide funding opportunities to promote the
prevention of teenage pregnancy.
 Take advantage of speaking opportunities for local civic
groups and faith based groups regarding teenage
pregnancy prevention and local youth development.
 Provide opportunities in the community and through local
organizations for teenagers to participate in community
service projects to promote positive youth development
 Start a local coalition.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

24. Goal #3: Implement the ongoing awareness
of teenage pregnancy prevention using
multiple modes of communication.
Lives are impacted and positive change occurs
when communities are aware of a problem and
educated on successful interventions.
Awareness must include the benefits of programs that
prepare young people for adulthood and prepare them
to face the challenges regarding sexual decisions and
other social issues that many of the adults in the
community did not have to face at their age.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

25. Strategies
 Achieve ongoing awareness of teenage
pregnancy prevention programs to young
people, parents and communities.
 Use multiple and effective modes of
communication to disperse data, provide
resources, and present intervention
methods.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

26. Objectives
 Provide an avenue, such as a teen coalition, for teens to
collaborate on teenage pregnancy prevention activities (social
networking, public awareness events, etc.).
 Provide information on local and state levels through web pages,
email, Facebook, Twitter or other blog sites.
 Conduct ongoing research to find innovative approaches to
communicate with youth and their parents through social
marketing and social networking.
 Organize an event that recognizes national teen pregnancy
prevention month.
 State partners will provide a yearly summit/conference to
provide information on teen pregnancy prevention, applicable
seminars, and opportunities to network.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

27. Goal #4: Provide local youth with access to reproductive
healthcare, contraceptives, and preventative services.
 Advocate for the need of clinics within the school system that collaborate with
local health department to promote health and wellbeing.
 Educate state and local legislators about the advantages of school health clinics
and solicit their support through calls, letters, and face-to-face conversations.
 Local health departments will offer brochures, flyers, bulletins and/or other
modes of advertising to each school youth service center and community-based
organizations describing available confidential family planning services.
 Continue to provide “teen-friendly” clinics and facilities by all health care
providers including the local health departments by:
 promoting a non-judgmental and a non-threatening atmosphere
 assuring confidentiality
 Continuing education to staff regarding adolescent health and
development, adolescent assessments, and effective education techniques
providing information that is specific to adolescent health issues
 Encourage local health departments to provide some hours of service that are
convenient for teens. Example: extended hours one night a week.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

28. Strategies
Provide teens with access to
healthcare, contraceptives,
and other preventative
services.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

29. Objectives
 Advocate for the need of clinics within the school system that collaborate
with local health department to promote health and wellbeing.
 Educate state and local legislators about the advantages of school health
clinics and solicit their support through calls, letters, and face-to-face
conversations.
 Local health departments will offer brochures, flyers, bulletins and/or
other modes of advertising to each school youth service center and
community-based organizations describing available confidential family
planning services.
 Continue to provide “teen-friendly” clinics and facilities by all health care
providers including the local health departments by:
 promoting a non-judgmental and a non-threatening atmosphere
 assuring confidentiality
 Continuing education to staff regarding adolescent health and
development, adolescent assessments, and effective education
techniques providing information that is specific to adolescent health
issues
 Encourage local health departments to provide some hours of service that
are convenient for teens. Example: extended hours one night a week.
(Department for Public Health, Division of Women’s Health , 2009-2010)

30. Policies Related to Teenage
Pregnancy in Tennessee
The Tennessee Department of Health is
committed to educating communities
about adolescent pregnancy prevention.
The Department has a number of
services that work with communities
and families to prevent adolescent
pregnancy.
(Society For Public Health Education, 2010)

31.  On December 17, 2011 The Senate passed H.R. 2055, which
provides level funding for the office of Adolescent Health Teen
Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), maintains existing
language establishing standards of evidence and evaluation,
increases evaluation funding for TPPP, adds $5 million for
competitive grants, and continues discretionary funding for
Community Health Centers.
 Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) – PREP,
administered by the Administration on Children, Youth, and
Families (ACYF), provides $75 million annually in mandatory
funds for FY 2010-2014 for evidence based programs that educate
adolescents on both abstinence and contraception to prevent
pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and on other
adulthood preparation topics such as healthy relationships,
communication with parents, and financial literacy. PREP
funding targets youth at greatest risk of teen pregnancy and
geographic areas with high teen birth rates.
(Society For Public Health Education, 2010)

32. Resources
 Components of Promising Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs .
(2008). Retrieved from Advocates for Youth:
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/publications-a-z/514-
components-of-promising-teen-pregnancy-prevention-programs
 "Counting It Up: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing." The Public
Costs of Teen Pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and
Unplanned Pregnancy, 9 June 2011. Web. 09 Apr. 2012.
http://thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters/public-cost
 Hedman, A. S., Larsen, D., & Bohnenblust, S. (2008). RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION AND TEEN
PREGNANCY IN MN. American Journal Of Health Studies, 23(4), 185-
194.
 Minnick, D. J., & Shandler, L. (2011). Changing Adolescent Perceptions
on Teenage Pregnancy. Children & Schools, 33(4), 241-248.

33.  Murphy-Erby, Y., Stauss, K., Boyas, J., & Bivens, V. (2011). Voices of Latino
parents and teens: Tailored strategies for parent-child communication
related to sex. Journal Of Children & Poverty, 17(1), 125-138.
doi:10.1080/10796126.2011.531250
 Society For Public Health Education. (2010). Retrieved from Teen
Pregnancy in Tennessee:
http://www.sophe.org/Sophe/PDF/Tennessee_FINAL.pdf
 The University of Memphis Center for Research on Women: Examining
Issues of Gender and Social Inequality. (2012, June ). Retrieved from Shelby
County Teen Pregnancy and Parenting Needs Assessment:
http://www.memphis.edu/crow/pdfs/tppsneedsassessmentlong.pdf
 "Why It Matters: Teen Pregnancy." Why It Matters. The National
Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Mar. 2010. Web. 09
Apr. 2012. < https://thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters
 Zapata, L. B., Hillis, S. D., Marchbanks, P. A., Curtis, K. M., & Lowry, R.
(2008). Methamphetamine Use Is Independently Associated With Recent
Risky Sexual Behaviors and Adolescent Pregnancy. Journal Of School
Health, 78(12), 641-648. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2008.00360.x