FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07/09/2015
Contact:
Mike Opat, Hennepin County commissioner, 612-348-7881
Katherine Meerse, Better Together Hennepin manager, 612-596-0996
Maria Elena Baca, Communications, 612-348-7865
News release
The Better Together Hennepin initiative to reduce teen
pregnancies has been named as a recipient of a five-year, $7.5 million federal
grant to continue and expand successful, evidence-based programming to prevent
teen pregnancies.
From the time the program started in 2007 through the end of
2013, teen pregnancies in Hennepin County plummeted by nearly 50 percent.
“This grant recognizes our wonderful progress over the
past five years and affirms that there is still much work to do,” said Hennepin
County Commissioner Mike Opat. “ Preventing teen pregnancy is vital to Hennepin
County’s vision of a future where our citizens are healthy and successful. With
this funding, we will continue to fulfill that vision.”
Better Together Hennepin is among 81 nonprofit
organizations, school districts, local government agencies and others receiving grants totaling more than $86 million.
Programming for education, better health
Better Together Hennepin and its partners in schools and
clinics uses evidence-based programming to increase young people’s access to
high quality sex ed and reproductive health care, and works to create youth
development opportunities and nurture connections to caring adults.
“Everyone benefits
when young people wait until they are adults to become parents,” said Katherine
Meerse, Better Together Hennepin program manager. “Young people who postpone
parenthood are more likely to finish high school and become contributing
members of the workforce. Children born to adults are more likely to have
a healthy birth weight and be prepared for school. Taxpayers profit from reduced
welfare rolls and less spending on publically funded medical care.”
Focusing work where it's needed most
Hennepin County uses GIS
data to track where teens are giving birth. Better Together Hennepin focuses
resources in those areas of the county that have the highest concentrations of
teen pregnancies -- Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Central and North Minneapolis,
Richfield and Robbinsdale.
With the funding in hand, the program will implement
the It’s OUR Future project, which aims to reduce teen birth rates by an
additional 30 percent by 2020. The federal program replicates current
successful local initiatives and brings new programming to Hennepin County
schools and clinics. The project is
expected to reach about 32,665 young people over the next five years.
For more information, visit the Better
Together Hennepin webpage.
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Look for more news on the Hennepin County website at www.hennepin.us/news.
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