DC CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCY

DC Campaign's mission is to cut the teen pregnancy rate in half. That's been our mission since 1999 when parents and teens, organizations and concerned residents joined with us to reach the goal of 64.4 pregnancies per thousand firls 15 to 19 years old in 2005 and 32.1 in 2015. Today, the teen pregnancy rate is at the historic low of 28.2 but teen births remain higher is some Washington, D.C. neighborhoods than in the rest of the city combined. As a training, advocacy and technical assistance organization, DC Campaign has conducted 37 conferences on topics ranging from Confidentiality to Does Geography Equal Destiny?, Mandatory Reporting, Nowhere To Lay My Head: Homelessness and Pregnant Teens, Re-Imagining School Based Health Care, Caught in the System;trained staff of youth serving organizations;held workshops to teach parents how to talk to their own children about love, sex, relationships and values; carried on conversations with teens themselves to learn what's happening in their schools and neighborhoods and what they identify as the most effective ways to reduce teen pregnancy. The Teen Pregnancy Fund Establishment Act DC Code 1-325.322, 1-325.321 and 1-325.325 proved to be a source of stability and provided continuity to local programs and services. Shortly before his sudden, untimely death, Jay Cooper, DC Campaign's policy director, advocated for and secured legislation that allocated $3.3 million to fund pregnancy prevention programs and services across Washington, D.C. Designated by law as the grant making entity, DC Campaign awarded 29 grants to local youth-serving organizations over the course of two years. These grants were in the areas of contraception and reproductive health care, secondary prevention programs for teen parents, sexuality education, professional development and training, research and policy development, public and peer education. DC Campaign made scheduled and surprise site visits and conducted program reviews of primary and secondary teen pregnancy prevention programs across the city.