Fighting Teen Pregnancy Does Not Mean Attacking Teen Mothers

The facts are clear. Teen Pregnancy is in no oneʼs best interest. Not the child, not the teen parents and not the city as a whole. Preventing teen pregnancy gives young people a better chance at a good future and saves millions of dollars in tax revenue that would otherwise be spent on programs that support families started by teens or deal with the other consequences. Preventing teen pregnancy is a high leverage intervention that is much more cost effective than after the fact measures that do not fix the root cause of the issue or even fully treat the symptoms.

That being said, we still have a large population of pregnant and parenting teens that need our support and guidance. DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy believes that this population is very vulnerable and must receive the highest level of services possible. One program that DC Campaign recommends is the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP). NFP is an evidence based and rigorously tested program for first time low income teen mothers that has been proven to work in many other states. It provides pregnant teens just the sort of support that they need not only to be successful parents but to also prevent subsequent teen births. By promoting birth spacing NFP has been proven to reduce these sorts of births significantly. This form of secondary prevention is key to cutting the teen pregnancy rate and ensuring the well being of teen parents and their children.

DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy has worked hand in hand with Crittenton Services of Greater Washington along with Teen Alliance for Prepared Parenting (TAPP) and Healthy Generations. DC Campaign believes that children in the District need all of the help and support that we, as caring adults, can provide. They also deserve the truth. We must not sugar coat the research and facts surrounding the effects of teen pregnancy on teens, their families, and the city as a whole.

DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy believes that every child deserves a childhood. Teen pregnancy takes that away from them.