When The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was founded in 1996, the national teen pregnancy rate was 95.6/1,000 (girls 15-19 years old). The National Campaign set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate in the United States by one-third between 1996 and 2005. According to the latest data from the Guttmacher Institute, the nation is on track to meeting this ambitious goal. The teen pregnancy rate in 2002 was 74.5/1,000 (girls 15-19 years old).
The National Campaign recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and set a new national goal for the next 10 years: another 1/3 reduction in the teen pregnancy rate over the coming decade. If this goal is achieved, the teen pregnancy rate for 2015 will be 43/1,000 (girls 15-19 years old).
As part of our 10th Anniversary year, The National Campaign encouraged states to join us in setting their own ten year goals. Letters were sent to all governors to encourage this goal setting process. The letters were signed by The National Campaign’s Board Chair, former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, Governor Granholm of Michigan, and Governor Barbour of Mississippi, who at the time were the former and current chair of the Health and Human Services Committee of the National Governors Association.
The National Campaign hosted a conference call that featured three state presentations on their goal setting process. For a summary of the call, click here.
The following chart details the 29 states who responded with goal information to The National Campaign. This information is current as of October 16, 2006. We congratulate these states and encourage others to set state goals. For more information on this project or to update your state’s information, please contact Kristen Tertzakian at 202-478-8556 or Jennifer Drake at 202-478-8525.
Latest State Feedback
Michigan
Letter from Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Download a copy
Oklahoma
Letter from Governor Brad Henry.
Download a copy
Utah
Letter from David Sundwall, MD, Executive Director, Utah Department of Health
Download a copy
| Alabama | The Alabama Coalition to Prevent Teen Pregnancy set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate by 1/3 by 2010. |
| Arizona | The Arizona Department of Health Services set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate (15-19 year olds) by 20 percent and to reduce the rate of subsequent pregnancies (15-19 year olds) by 30 percent. |
| California | The California Department of Health Services updated their goal to reduce the teen birth rate to 18.9/1000 for 15-17 year olds and to 32./1000 for 15-19 year olds (which is a 14 percent reduction) by 2015. The Department is working to set a reduction goal for the teen pregnancy rate. |
| Delaware | The Delaware Teen Pregnancy Prevention Advisory Board set a goal to reduce the teen birth rate (15-19 year olds) from the current rate of 46.9/1000 to 45.6/1,000 by 2015, representing a 3 percent decline. They also set a goal to reduce the birth rate among 15-17 year olds from the current rate of 27.2/1,000 to 25.1/1,000 by 2015, representing an 8 percent decline. |
| Florida | The Florida Department of Health updated their goal to reduce the teen birth rate (15-19 year olds) from the current rate of 41.6/1000 to 26.3/1000 for 2010, representing a 37 percent decline. |
| Georgia | The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention set a goal of “15 by 15” for teen pregnancy—15 percent reduction in the teen pregnancy rate (15-19 year olds) by 2015. |
| Hawaii | The Hawaii Department of Health is working on setting a goal. |
| Illinois | The Illinois Department of Human Services updated their goal to reduce the teen birth rate to 43/1,000 by 2015. |
| Indiana | The Indiana Department of Health is currently reviewing a proposed goal. |
| Iowa | The Iowa Department of Public Health will be updating their teen birth rate reduction goal. |
| Kentucky | The Kentucky Department of Public Health’s current teen birth rate reduction goal is included in the Healthy Kentucky 2010 initiative. The goal is to reduce the teen birth rate for 15-17 year olds is from the 2000 rate of 31.9/1,000 to 20/1,000, representing a 37 percent decline. |
| Michigan | The Michigan Governor’s Office set a goal to reduce teen pregnancy by 20 percent by 2015. |
| Mississippi | The Mississippi Department of Human Services set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate by 1/3 by 2015. |
| Missouri | The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services set two reduction goals: To reduce the teen pregnancy rate (15-17 year olds) from 21.1/1,000 in 2004 to 11.1/1,000 by the year 2010; and to reduce the teen birth rate (15-17 year olds) from 19.1/1,000 in 2004 to 8.7/1,000 by the year 2010. |
| Montana | The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is working on setting a goal. |
| Nebraska | The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services plans to update their current teen pregnancy rate reduction goal. |
| New Jersey | Staff received letter from Acting Governor Richard Codey in support of New Jersey’s teen pregnancy prevention program. |
| New Mexico | The New Mexico Department of Health and the New Mexico Teen Pregnancy Coalition set a goal to reduce the teen birth rate by 15 percent by 2010. |
| New York | The New York State Department of Health has a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate (15-17 years old) from 60/1,000 in 1998 to 32/1,000 in 2007, representing a 47 percent reduction. |
| North Carolina | The North Carolina Division of Public Health and the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina are working on setting a goal. |
| North Dakota | The North Dakota Department of Health is working on setting a goal. |
| Oklahoma | The Oklahoma Interagency Coordinating Council for Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy and STDs set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate (15-19 year olds) by 1/3 by 2015. |
| Pennsylvania | The Pennsylvania Department of Health is working on updating their goal. |
| Rhode Island | The Rhode Island Department of Health and the Rhode Island Teen Pregnancy Coalition are working on setting a goal. |
| South Carolina | The South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is working on updating their goal. |
| Tennessee | The Tennessee Department of Health updated their goal for 15-17 year olds for 2010. |
| Texas | The Texas Governor’s office is considering setting a goal. |
| Utah | The Utah Department of Health set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate (15-19 year olds) by 20 percent by 2015. |
| Virginia | The Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate (15-19 year olds) by 13 percent by 2015. |
| West Virginia | The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources set a goal to reduce the teen pregnancy rate (15-19 year olds) by 25 percent by 2015. |