PROGRAM AREAS - Preventing Teen PregnancyTeen Pregnancy is Everyone’s ProblemWashington, DC’s young people are one of our city’s most precious assets. We know that our children deserve quality health care, close caring relationships with adults, school success, and safe places in which to develop and express themselves. In addition, our youth have a right to accurate reproductive health information and a right to quality health services that support them in making responsible decisions now and in the future. Like every community, we want our children to thrive so that the District will be the great community we are all committed to it becoming.Among the many challenges our young people face, one of the most serious is the problem of teenage pregnancy. Every year one in sixteen teen girls in our city becomes pregnant, almost always unintentionally, and almost always without a husband. However, this rate compares favorably to one in four when we began our program focus in 1998. There has been an unprecedented decline in teen pregnancies of over 75% since 1993! This drop in the rate of teen pregnancy, if sustained, will positively affect the quality of life for all in our community for many years to come Preventing Teen Pregnancy is a High Leverage ActionBecause teen pregnancy often accompanies other problems affecting our youth, preventing early pregnancy is a high leverage action that reaches to the heart of many social problems. The links between teen pregnancy and poverty, low birth weight babies, developmental and learning disabilities, crime, violence and sexual abuse are well documented and their impact on our community is obvious. In short, the level of teen pregnancy is a key indicator of the health of our community, with ramifications beyond the teens most directly affected. Addressing this issue sustainably will depend on our community putting in place a broad system that has an impact on the lives of all of our youth.
In 1998 the Summit Fund, along with others, made the commitment to
reduce teen pregnancy in the District by 50% by the year 2005.
The most recent statistics available (2007) indicate a 61.5%
drop over the past nine years. This reduction exceeds the
national trends and is definitely cause for celebration. However,
following national trends, there has been a slight increase in the
number of teen births over the past two years, elevating concern that
the downward trends may be reversing. Continued emphasis on teen pregnancy
prevention is crucial if the reductions are to be sustained. Recognizing
the importance of continued vigilance, the Summit Fund of Washington,
along with the DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and others, has
committed itself to another 50% reduction in the teen pregnancy rates
by the year 2015. The target rate will be 32.2 pregnancies for every
1,000 teen women aged 15-19. Achieving this rate will represent an
86% decline from the high rates in the early 1990s.
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  Are We There Yet? Fourteen year analysis of teen pregnancy data in Washington D.C. (PDF 370KB)
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