• Teen pregnancy rate hits 40-year low, By Joel Provano, February 8, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The U.S. teen pregnancy rate has reached a 40-year low, a new study finds. The study, by the Guttmacher Institute, found that the pregnancy rate declined 42 percent from its peak in 1990, according to the study released Wednesday. The teen pregnancy rate in 2008 was 68 per 1,000 girls age 15-19, down from 117 per 1,000 in 1990. That means about 7 percent of girls in that age group became pregnant that year. In addition, the survey showed the birthrate declined 35 percent between 1991 and 2008, from 61.8 to 40.2 births per 1,000 teens…”
• Teen pregnancy, abortion rates at record low, study says, By James B. Kelleher, February 8, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Birth and abortion rates among U.S. teens fell to record lows in 2008 as increased use of contraceptives sent the overall teen pregnancy rate to its lowest level since at least 1972, a study showed on Wednesday. But disparities among racial and ethnic groups continued to persist, with black and Hispanic teens experiencing pregnancy and abortion rates two to four times higher than their white peers, the Guttmacher Institute, the nonprofit sexual health research group that conducted the analysis, said…”

• U.S. teen pregnancy rate remains highest in developed world, By Shari Roan, January 19, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, but the country still has a higher rate than any other developed country, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Battles over how to best prevent teen pregnancy may be to blame for the continued high rate in the United States. Abstinence-only programs are favored in some areas while education and improved access to contraception are supported in others. The most recent controversy stemmed from the federal government’s refusal in December to allow emergency contraceptive pills to be sold over-the-counter to girls age 16 and younger…”
• CDC: Many teen moms didn’t think it could happen, By Mike Stobbe (AP), January 19, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant. In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn’t use birth control said the reason was they didn’t believe they could pregnant. Why they thought that isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn’t ask teens to explain. But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile…”
• Roanoke’s teen pregnancy rate plunges 32%, By Courtney Cutright, January 20, 2012, Roanoke Times: “Roanoke’s rate of teen pregnancies dropped nearly 32 percent from 2009 to 2010, moving the city out of the top 10 localities in Virginia with the highest rates. Roanoke still ranks 12th in the state. But the city’s teen pregnancy rate for 2010 is one of the lowest since 1996, according to Virginia Department of Health statistics posted online recently…”

Why the US teen birthrate hit a record low in 2010, By Jennifer Skalka Tulumello, December 12, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “Increased use of birth control, and, some say, other wide-ranging variables such as abstinence-only education and a poor economy, are playing key roles in driving the US teen birthrate to a record low, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reported in November that the rate declined 9 percent from 2009 to 2010, with 34.3 births per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 19. That marks the largest single-year drop since 1946-47 - and the lowest level ever reported in the United States. Teenage birthrates have tracked a relatively steady downward trend since 1991, when the rate was 61.8 births per 1,000 teens. (The rates were 52.2 in 1981, 64.5 in 1971, and 88.6 in 1961.)…”

• W.Va. is only state with rising teen birthrate, By Megan Workman, October 18, 2011, Charleston Gazette: “Teenage birthrates decreased in every state in the country from 2007 through 2009 except in West Virginia, which saw a 17 percent increase, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Statistics from the Natality Data File in the National Vital Statistics System showed that the teenage birthrate declined 8 percent in the United States from 2007 through 2009, the most recent data available. The nation’s teen birthrate reached its lowest in 70 years, at 39.1 births per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 19, according to the CDC. West Virginia’s 15- to 19-year-old population’s birthrate has steadily been on the rise, as the 2009 rate was 49.7 births per 1,000 teenagers…”
• Milwaukee’s teen birthrate plunges for second straight year, By Karen Herzog, October 12, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Milwaukee’s teen birthrate plunged by 5.6 births per 1,000 teens last year, keeping the city well ahead of the pace needed to reach its goal of being in line with the state rate by 2015. This is the second year in a row that Milwaukee’s rate has dropped dramatically. From 2008 to 2009, the rate fell from 46.73 births per 1,000 teens to 41.30 births per 1,000. The preliminary data released Tuesday shows a drop to 35.68 in 2010. The city counts births between ages 15 and 17…”

• Michigan’s sharp rise in births to unwed moms means ‘a lot more children growing up in poverty’, By Sue Thoms, July 7, 2011, Grand Rapids Press: “A sharp increase in the number of unmarried women having babies means trouble ahead for mothers and children in Michigan, according to the Michigan League for Human Services. ‘We’re going to see a lot more children growing up in poverty,’ said Jane Zehnder-Merrill, director of a report released Wednesday on trends in maternal and infant health from 2000 to 2009. The study found 40 percent of births in Michigan in 2009 were to unmarried woman — a 20 percent rise since 2000. Two of every three births to women in their early 20s were to unwed mothers…”
• Study: Fewer teens, more singles giving birth in Michigan, By Chris Christoff, July 7, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “The percentage of babies born in Michigan to unmarried mothers rose significantly during the last decade, but fewer teens are giving birth, a new study shows. About half of all births in 2000-09 were to low-income mothers eligible for Medicaid health insurance, according to the Kids Count in Michigan report by the Michigan League for Human Services. The trend is troubling because babies born to unmarried women are more likely to live in poverty and have health and learning problems, said Kids Count in Michigan Director Jane Zehnder-Merrell…”

Colorado’s poorest counties face the highest rate of teen pregnancy, By Karen Auge, April 10, 2011, Denver Post: “At 2 in the afternoon on a recent Tuesday, Lexie Parker lay on the couch in her tidy, three-room Walsenburg apartment, cuddling her 16-month-old daughter, Tazia. One skinny stream of sunlight squeezed into a room otherwise darkened by a blanket tacked over the window. Tazia giggled at the furry monster and his little green counterpart as the sounds of ‘Monsters, Inc.’ filled the room. ‘This is it; this is our life,’ Parker said…”

Teen pregnancy rate drops to a record low, CDC reports, By Linda Shrieves, April 5, 2011, Orlando Sentinel: “The teen pregnancy rate in the United States fell in 2009 to a record low - part of a 37 percent decline over the past 20 years. And though that sounds like cause for celebration, here’s the more depressing side of those statistics: Teen pregnancy rates here are as much as nine times higher than in other developed countries, according to the latest CDC Vital Signs report. The report, which covers teen pregnancy rates from 1991 to 2009, found that more than 400,000 teen girls give birth each year in the U.S…”

Colombia launches large-scale birth control effort, By Chris Kraul, December 12, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “When 80 women from the poor Agua Blanca district of Cali got free contraceptive implants last week, they became the first local beneficiaries of one of Latin America’s most liberal reproductive rights laws. Colombia’s Congress this fall passed a law guaranteeing all citizens access to free contraceptive drugs and surgical procedures, including vasectomies and tubal ligations. The benefits are only now filtering down to shanty neighborhoods such as this one in northeast Cali, where birthrates are among the nation’s highest, particularly among teenagers, health officials here said…”

Indiana, Kentucky teen birthrates top national averages; Kentucky in top 10, By Bill Straub, October 31, 2010, Evansville Courier and Press: “The number of teen births in Indiana is significantly higher than the U.S. rate, according to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while Kentucky’s totals are even higher, placing the commonwealth in the top 10. The report, released Wednesday, placed the Hoosier teen rate at 43.7 births for every 1,000 young women from the ages of 15 to 19, compared to a national rate of 41.5. Kentucky, meanwhile, had a rate of 55.6, tied with Tennessee for the nation’s seventh highest. Regardless, the number of teen births in Indiana fell by 3.3 percent from 2007, when a rate of 45.2 per 1,000 was recorded, a greater decline than the 2.4 percent dip reported nationally. Kentucky experienced a modest increase from a rate of 55.1…”

City’s teen birthrate heading downward, By Karen Herzog, October 28, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Milwaukee’s teen birthrate - the second highest in the nation less than a decade ago- is dropping at a pace that could put it near the much lower state average by 2015, according to data released Wednesday by public health officials.
‘We know there’s much work to get done, but we should all feel encouraged this trend is going in the right direction,’ said Bevan Baker, Milwaukee’s health commissioner. Baker is co-chair of a United Way of Greater Milwaukee advisory committee that set a goal in 2008 of reducing the city’s teen birthrate, which hovered in 2006 at 52 births per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 17. By 2015, the goal is 30 births per 1,000 teens in that age group. The committee targeted new pregnancy prevention efforts starting with fourth-graders because they would turn 17 in 2015…”

• Highest teen birthrates are in the South, October 21, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “The highest teenage birthrates in the U.S. are clustered in Southern states and the lowest in the Northeast and upper Midwest, government researchers said Wednesday. Birthrates fell to an average of 41.5 births per 1,000 female teens in 2008 from 42.5 in 2007, with 14 states seeing declines. That followed an increase from 2005 to 2007, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. The differences are important because teen parents are less likely to pursue higher education, their children are less likely to be healthy, and they earn less on average than people who have children later…”
• State’s lower teen-pregnancy rate doesn’t tell whole story, By Carol M. Ostrom, October 20, 2010, Seattle Times: “Teen pregnancy is associated with all sorts of bad things - physical risks to babies, interrupted education for moms, and lower lifetime incomes all around - so it’s good news that Washington, overall, has a significantly lower rate than the U.S. average. But the statistics released Wednesday morning by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention don’t tell the whole story. Buried inside the big-picture statistics about Washington are numbers that reveal pockets of teen pregnancy, often in nearby high schools and middle schools…”
• Teen birth rate low, but racial disparities persist, By Elizabeth Dunbar, October 21, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Minnesota has the eighth-lowest teen birth rate in the nation, but the rates are much higher among teens of color. Nationally, the CDC found that the worst disparities between black teens and the general population occurred in the South and the Upper Midwest. Minnesota was among the 10 states with the highest teen birth rate among black teens…”

• Many Lansing babies ‘at high risk’, By Louise Knott Ahern, October 13, 2010, Lansing State Journal: “More than 60 percent of all births in Lansing are paid for by Medicaid, and babies here are nearly twice as likely as the statewide average to be born to a mom without a high school diploma, according to a report released Tuesday. It’s an indication, say some social service advocates, that the effect of rising poverty, falling incomes and cuts to programs for poor moms is finally reaching the most vulnerable among us: babies…”
• Report calls city ‘high risk’ for health of moms, infants, By Tarryl Jackson, October 12, 2010, Jackson Citizen Patriot: “The number of babies born pre-term and to unwed mothers and black teens in Jackson jumped during the past decade, according to a statewide report released today. The Right Start in Michigan report, produced by the Michigan League for Human Services, measured maternal and infant health from 2000 to 2008 for 69 Michigan communities. It declared Jackson one of 13 that are ‘high risk.’ Of 934 births to mothers who lived in Jackson in 2008, Medicaid paid for 64 percent. Medicaid typically covers the cost of prenatal care and delivery for pregnant women without health insurance and in households with income below 185 percent of the federal poverty level…”

• More children living in poverty in Kentucky, Indiana, annual survey shows, By Deborah Yetter, July 26, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “The number of children living in poverty has increased in Kentucky and Indiana, following a national trend of high unemployment and growing poverty in families, according to the latest ‘Kid Count,’ an annual state-by-state survey of child well-being by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The numbers are alarming because of the adverse effect poverty has on children’s health and achievement, said Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, which contributed to the annual report…”
• Well-being of kids falters, By Robert King, July 27, 2010, Indianapolis Star: “There’s little doubt among experts that the Great Recession has been a blow to children, with their parents losing jobs, their families losing health insurance and cash-strapped governments cutting programs that serve children. But the latest statistical assessment of the well-being of children — the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2010 Kids Count report — shows Hoosier kids were struggling before the recession took hold…”
• More Ohio kids living with single parents, By Catherine Candisky, July 27, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “Nearly three of every four black children in Ohio live with only one parent, usually their mother - a rate almost three times higher than that of white youngsters. In all, 34 percent of Ohio children, or 870,000 youngsters, reside in single-parent households. That’s a 10 percent increase from a decade ago; only 10 states, all in the South, are worse, according to a report released today…”
• Michigan kids’ well-being slips, U.S. report reveals, By Catherine Jun, July 27, 2010, Detroit News: “Job insecurity and infant mortality rates in Michigan hover above the national average, pushing Michigan’s ranking in child well-being to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to the national Kids Count report released today. The report, which ranked Michigan 21st-worst for child well-being in the nation, showed that 31 percent of children in 2008 lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment, compared with the national rate of 27 percent…”
• Wisconsin 10th for child well-being, study shows, By Tia Ghose, July 27, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Wisconsin ranks 10th in the nation for child well-being, according to a study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation released Tuesday. The study, called Kids Count, combined data from the 2008 American Community Survey and several federal and local health statistics. Wisconsin has consistently placed between 10th and 14th for the last decade. The state stood out in its performance on education. Wisconsin ranked fourth in the percentage of teens who attend school or have graduated, and fifth in the percentage of teens who were either working or in school…”
• Child welfare improving in Missouri, holds steady in Illinois, By Nancy Cambria, July 28, 2010, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Missouri children gained slight ground in a national study ranking the quality of life of kids in all 50 states. The Annie E. Casey Foundation released on Tuesday its 2010 Kids Count, an annual analysis of child welfare statistics around the nation. Missouri ranked 31st among all states, an improvement from last year’s 33rd spot. Illinois ranked 24th, the same as last year…”
• Minnesota still No. 2 in kids’ health but…, By Jeremy Olson, July 25, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “For the sixth time in nine years, Minnesota was the second-healthiest state for children when evaluating rates of deaths, teen pregnancies, high school dropouts and child poverty, a new national ranking indicates. Still, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count report, released Monday, was hardly celebrated by child advocates in the state, who fear Minnesota’s poverty rate — higher than a decade ago — could undermine its success…”
• More children living in poverty in N.D. and Minnesota, By Ryan Johnson, July 28, 2010, Grand Forks Herald: “The number of children living in poverty rose in both Minnesota and North Dakota in recent years, according to a new report released this week. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 21st annual Kids Count report tracks 10 categories of children’s health from 2000 to 2008, ranking states based on how well they did in those factors. New Hampshire took the No. 1 spot in the country, and Minnesota closely followed to get ranked No. 2 for the second consecutive year. North Dakota’s ranking slipped to No. 12 overall, down from No. 7 in 2009’s report…”
• Utah No. 4 in national child well-being report, By Jasen Lee, July 27, 2010, Deseret News: “Being a child in Utah is better than being a child in almost every other state in the country, a new report shows. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count Data Book, a national and state-by-state report that includes key measures and statistical trends on the condition of America’s children and families, Utah ranked fourth overall this year - a drop from third in last year’s data book. However, the Beehive State saw improvements in several major indicators studied in the report…”
• Texas has 3rd-highest teen birthrate among states, study says, By Jan Jarvis, July 26, 2010, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: ” Texas has the third-highest teen birthrate in the nation, according to an annual study that ranked the state in the overall well-being of children. Sixty-four of 1,000 births were to teenage mothers, far higher than the national rate of 43 births per 1,000, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2010 Kids Count Data Book. The rate puts Texas 48th among the 50 states in teen births, better than only New Mexico and Mississippi. But it is an improvement over last year, when the state was the worst in the country…”
• Report: Well-being of state’s kids improves, but poverty rates soar, By Barbara Cotter, July 27, 2010, Colorado Springs Gazette: “Colorado has improved its standing as a place where children can thrive, according to a national study released Tuesday, but researchers note that data used to evaluate the 50 states on the well-being of their kids predate the economic downturn that began in 2008. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a Baltimore-based organization focused on public policy that affects children and families, Colorado’s ranking improved from 22nd in the 2009 report to 20 in the 2010 report. The rankings are based on 10 key indicators that measure how each state’s children are faring…”
• N.J. ranks high in Kids Count survey for children’s health, education, By Susan K. Livio, July 27, 2010, Star-Ledger: “New Jersey is an expensive place to live, but with its competitive public school system and access to health programs for working poor families, it’s also a good place to raise and educate children, according to the latest Kids Count nationwide survey of child health, wealth and well-being. According to the annual survey, scheduled for release today, New Jersey ranks seventh overall in terms of child health, an improvement from the last year’s study when the state placed ninth…”
• Georgia still failing its kids, says report, By Craig Schneider, July 27, 2010, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Georgia once again stands among the 10 worst states for the care of its children, and some worry that the state has become complacent about its poor performance in such areas as infant mortality, child deaths and low birth-weight babies. The state lags behind the national average on every one of the 10 measures in the 2010 Kids Count data book, a compilation of state and federal information that will be released today…”
• Child health report uses pre-recession data, By Emily Bregel, July 27, 2010, Chattanooga Times Free Press: “Child advocates in Tennessee and Georgia say a recent ranking of states based on child well-being may be painting a too-rosy picture. The ranking is based on data collected before the economic recession unleashed a wave of unemployment and budget cuts, the advocates say…”
• Alabama still ranks low in Kids Count data, By Jeff Hansen, July 27, 2010, Birmingham News: “Alabama and much of the Southeast continue to lag the rest of the United States in measures of child well-being, according to today’s release of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2010 Kids Count data book. Alabama ranks 47th this year, according to 10 measures of childhood health, poverty, education and family issues. Alabama’s place near the bottom is no surprise: In the last nine rankings, the state has been 48th six times, 47th twice and 43rd once…”
• Md. remains middle of the pack in child well-being, By Brent Jones, July 27, 2010, Baltimore Sun: “As the state continues to struggle with a high infant mortality rate that undercuts its relative wealth, Maryland’s overall rank in child well-being remained in the middle of the pack nationally, according to an annual report released by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 2010 Kids Count Databook released Tuesday placed Maryland 25th in overall child well-being, the same ranking as a year ago. Although Maryland has the second-lowest percentage of children living in poverty (10 percent), the state placed 42nd in infant mortality rate, a statistical discrepancy that puzzled the report’s authors…”

Canada’s teen birth and abortion rate drops by 36.9 per cent, By Zosia Bielski, May 26, 2010, Globe and Mail: “Better access to contraception, higher quality sex education and shifting social norms have contributed to a 36.9 per cent decline in Canada’s teen birth and abortion rate between 1996 to 2006, according to a report released today by the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada. ‘This is a good news story,’ said Alexander McKay, lead author and research co-ordinator at the council. ‘It’s important to look at teen pregnancy rates because they’re a basic fundamental indicator of young women’s sexual and reproductive health. While not all teen pregnancies are a bad thing, when we see [rates] dropping, it’s a fairly clear indicator that young women are doing increasingly well in terms of controlling and protecting their reproductive health.’ The report, which appears in the current issue of The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, compares Statistics Canada figures with numbers from three other countries. The United States experienced a 25 per cent drop while England and Wales showed a more modest decline of 4.75 per cent. Sweden’s numbers, meanwhile, jumped by 19.1 per cent…”

Young and pregnant, but not alone, By Maura Lerner, May 13, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “At 17, Camia Carruthers is expecting her first child next week. But she’s not going it alone. She has the support of her parents, her boyfriend and Jeanne Kumlin, a nurse who makes weekly house calls. For years, the Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency has been sending nurses like Kumlin to check on pregnant teenagers throughout Hennepin County and offer nutritional advice, parenting tips, and even free cribs and clothing. Now, a new study shows those visits have paid off. The study, conducted by Wilder Research and released Wednesday, found that teenagers in the visiting nurse program were more likely to carry their babies to term, and give birth to healthy babies, than other pregnant teens in the Twin Cities…”

Data: U.S. teen birth rate on decline, By Rob Stein, April 6, 2010, Washington Post: “The rate at which teenage girls in the United States are having babies has dropped, according to the latest government statistics released Tuesday, raising hopes that an alarming two-year increase in teen births was an aberration. Births among U.S. girls ages 15 to 19 fell 2 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the federal analysis of birth certificates nationwide, reversing two consecutive years of increases that had interrupted a 34 percent decline and caused alarm that one of the nation’s most successful social and public health successes was faltering…”

• Teenage pregnancy rate falls, February 24, 2010, BBC News: “The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has fallen by 4%, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A total of 41,325 women under 18 fell pregnant in 2008, down 3.9% from 42,988 in 2007, the figures show. Of these young women 49% had an abortion, compared with 50% in 2007. The government had pledged in 1999 to halve teenage pregnancy rates among under-18s in England by this year but is widely expected to miss that target. The ONS data shows for every 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 17 in England and Wales, there were just over 40 pregnancies…”
• Teenage pregnancies fall, but not far enough, By Anna Bawden, February 24, 2010, The Guardian: “The government today announced an overhaul of its teenage pregnancy strategy after new figures showed conception rates among under 18s were not falling fast enough. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 41,325 girls under 18 in England and Wales fell pregnant in 2008, a decline of 3.9% from 2007, while the number of pregnancies among the under-16s fell 7.6% to 7,577. But the decline is far short of the government’s pledge to halve teenage pregnancies by 2010. Ministers committed to halve pregnancies among 15- to 17-year-olds in England from the 1998 rate of 46.6 conceptions per 1,000 girls…”

• Abstinence-only programs might work, study says, By Rob Stein, February 2, 2010, Washington Post: “Sex education classes that focus on encouraging children to remain abstinent can persuade a significant proportion to delay sexual activity, researchers reported Monday in a landmark study that could have major implications for U.S. efforts to protect young people against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Only about a third of sixth- and seventh-graders who completed an abstinence-focused program started having sex within the next two years, researchers found. Nearly half of the students who attended other classes, including ones that combined information about abstinence and contraception, became sexually active. The findings are the first clear evidence that an abstinence program could work…”
• Quick response to study of abstinence education, By Tamar Lewin, February 2, 2010, New York Times: “A study of middle-school students that found for the first time that abstinence-only education helped to delay their sexual initiation is already beginning to shake up the longstanding debate over how best to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. ‘This is a rigorous study that means we can now say that it’s possible for an abstinence-only intervention to be effective,’ Dr. John B. Jemmott III, the University of Pennsylvania professor who led the study, said Tuesday, hours after results of the study were released. ‘That’s important, because for some populations, abstinence is the only acceptable message…’”

• Pregnant women who smoke here more than double national average, By Becky Orr, January 25, 2010, Wyoming Tribune Eagle: “The news is troubling: Plenty of Wyoming mothers smoked when they were pregnant. The recently released 2009 Kids Count Data Report finds that 20 percent of women in Wyoming smoked when they were pregnant. The statistic is from 2007, the most recent information available. That’s more than double the national average of 10 percent in 2007…”
• Johnson County childhood poverty rate among the state’s lowest, By Jen Hicks, January 29, 2010, Buffalo Bulletin: “Slightly fewer Johnson County children are living in poverty according to an annual report that monitors the well-being of the nation’s youth. But the same study released last week showed an increase in the number of students who receive free or reduced school lunches. The 2009 Wyoming Kids Count Data Report, funded by the non-profit Annie E. Casey Foundation, found improvement in two of the three key indicators used to measure the economic well-being of children. Because financial stability can have a domino effect on a child’s welfare, Marc Homer, director of the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance, a non-profit children’s advocacy organization said that it’s important to understand the economic situation children are raised in…”

• At risk children in Missouri on rise, By Nancy Cambria, January 28, 2010, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “After periods of noted declines, teen births and high school dropout rates are on the rise in Missouri. Kids Count, an ongoing study of how children and teens are faring in this country, released the warnings Wednesday in its annual county-to-county look at Missouri. The study was released by the group Citizens for Missouri’s Children. The study examines 10 indicators of child well-being over a four-year period, and then ranks each county on the overall quality of life for children. Following a disturbing national trend, births to teens aged 15 to 19 increased in the state, up about a percentage point to about 9,150 teens. Many of those increases occurred in rural areas of the state. In the region, St. Louis City dropped its rate by nearly 10 percent, but other counties spiked, especially Jefferson and Warren counties, which both experienced about a 5 percentage point increase…”
• Report: Boone County ranks 10th in children’s well-being, By Kelly Brdicka and Kourtney Geers, January 27, 2010, Columbia Missourian: “Every day in Missouri in 2008, 255,953 children lived in poverty; 31 teens left high school without graduating, and 25 girls - ages 15 to 19 - gave birth, according to the Citizens for Missouri’s Children’s 17th edition of the Kids Count. The report was published in the 2009 Missouri Data Book, which was released Wednesday and compiles information from more than 30 organizations and covers issues important to the welfare of children including economic security, early education, health, child protection and juvenile justice…”

After long decline, teenage pregnancy rate rises, By Tamar Lewin, January 26, 2010, New York Times: “After more than a decade of declining teenage pregnancy, the pregnancy rate among girls ages 15 to 19 increased 3 percent from 2005 to 2006 - a turnaround likely to intensify the debate over federal financing for abstinence-only sex education. The teenage abortion rate also crept up for the first time in more than a decade, rising 1 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit research group…”

• Rise in teenage pregnancy rate spurs new debate on arresting it, By Rob Stein, January 26, 2010, Washington Post: “The pregnancy rate among teenage girls in the United States has jumped for the first time in more than a decade, raising alarm that the long campaign to reduce motherhood among adolescents is faltering, according to a report released Tuesday. The pregnancy rate among 15-to-19-year-olds increased 3 percent between 2005 and 2006 — the first jump since 1990, according to an analysis of the most recent data collected by the federal government and the nation’s leading reproductive-health think tank. Teen pregnancy has long been one of the most pressing social issues and has triggered intense political debate over sex education, particularly whether the federal government should fund programs that encourage abstinence until marriage or focus on birth control…”
• Teen pregnancy, abortion rates rise, By Sharon Jayson, January 26, 2010, USA Today: “The teen pregnancy rate in the USA rose 3% in 2006, the first increase in more than a decade, according to data out today. The data also show higher rates of births and abortions among girls 15-19. The numbers, calculated by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit group that studies reproductive and sexual health, show a clear reversal from the downward trend that began in the 1990s. About 7% of teen girls got pregnant in 2006, a rate of 71.5 pregnancies per 1,000 teens. That’s up slightly from 69.5 in 2005, Guttmacher says. In 1990, when rates peaked, about 12% got pregnant. Just as the long-term declines in teen pregnancy were for all racial and ethnic groups, the rise in 2006 was for all demographics, the report shows…”

• Dallas leads nation in repeat teen births, study finds, By Robert T. Garrett, September 1, 2009, Dallas Morning News: “Dallas leads the nation in the percentage of teen births that aren’t the mother’s first delivery, a nonpartisan national research group finds in a new report. Dallas had the highest percentage of teen births that are repeat births - 28 percent - among 73 major U.S. cities in 2006, the latest year for which city-level data are available. Texas has the highest repeat rate of any state - 23 percent of teen births. And five of the 15 worst-ranked cities are in Texas, according to the group Child Trends, in a report to be released Wednesday…”
• Houston had the most girls under 15 giving birth in 2006, report says, By Todd Ackerman, August 31, 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: ” More girls under 15 give birth in Houston than in any other U.S. city, according to a new national report. And among all births involving teenage mothers, Dallas had the nation’s highest percentage of repeat births, at 28 percent, while Fort Worth was eighth, at 25 percent. The report, by the research organization Child Trends, found that 20 percent more babies were born to girls 14 or younger in Houston than in New York and Los Angeles in 2006, the latest year for which data are available…”
• Texas has restrictive birth control policy for minors, By Robert T. Garrett, September 6, 2009, Dallas Morning News: “Texas, a leader in teen pregnancy and the state where more teens give birth to subsequent children than in any other, maintains one of the most restrictive policies in the nation for minors to obtain prescription birth control. Not even young parents in Texas can get birth control without their own parents’ permission at nearly a third of the family planning clinics on contract with the state health department…”