The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy applauds the Senate Finance Committee for passing Chairman Baucus' amendment to its health reform bill that would make a substantial and much-needed investment in evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs. The amendment provides a total of $75 million a year over five years in mandatory funding for the Personal Responsibility Education for Adulthood Training (PRE-Adulthood Training) program, including $50 million to states and territories for proven, effective efforts to help young people avoid teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. These programs would also address several other issues to help prepare youth for adulthood including healthy relationships, financial literacy, parent-child communication, and educational and career success. The committee passed this amendment with a strong margin of 14 - 9.

As an organization dedicated to preventing teen and unplanned pregnancy and deeply committed to research and evidence, we applaud Chairman Baucus and the committee for the focus on strong science. The remaining $25 million would support innovative strategies and services for high risk and vulnerable youth, funds for Indian tribes and tribal organizations to address this important challenge, research, evaluation, and technical assistance, including a national teen pregnancy prevention resource center to support the work of states, tribes, and communities.

The committee also passed by a narrower margin of 12 - 11 an amendment that would restore the Title V abstinence-only education funds for states and territories.

Given the recent increase in the teen birth rate, a commitment to evidence-based programs is critical to intensify teen pregnancy prevention efforts around the country. This investment will help prepare young people for successful transitions to adulthood, alleviate poverty and improve educational outcomes, and improve overall child and family well-being. We urge the Senate to maintain this focus on programs with evidence of success and to include this important provision in the final health reform bill that emerges from Congress.

This mandatory funding complements discretionary funds for evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention that is working its way through the Appropriations process. President Obama proposed a $178 million teen pregnancy prevention initiative, including $128 million in discretionary funds and $50 million in mandatory funds. This would establish the first dedicated funding for evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs. In July, the House included $128 million in discretionary funds similar to the President's proposal in its Labor-HHS Appropriations bill and the Senate Appropriations committee included $105 million in the bill it passed, which is awaiting Senate floor action. The House Energy and Commerce Committee also authorized $50 million for a Healthy Teen Initiative in its health reform bill.

We are two weeks in, and already it has been a busy 2009 in the world of teen and unplanned pregnancy prevention. For us policy nerds, it has been an even busier one as the 111th Congress convenes, and the ball is officially rolling on a number of pressing issues and ideas that would make the world a better place.

So, here I have compiled my very own list of things that get me out of bed every morning. Here's hoping Congress and the new Administration take note!

1. Last week, the federal government released data that confirmed the 3% increase in the teen birth rate between 2005 and 2006 (as originally reported in December 2007) and announced that some 26 states saw a significant increase in the rate for the same period. As for the others, only 3 states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant decreases, and 22 state rates were essentially unchanged. I don't know about you, but after 14 straight years of declines, this scares the pants off me. Or maybe it scares my pants on as the case may be. Wake up call, anyone?
   
   
2. Policymakers and advocates alike genuinely seem ready to move past the decades-long culture wars and to find common ground on abortion. Among the ways to do it: getting to the root of the issue and helping women avoid unplanned pregnancy in the first place. The Prevention First Act, which has already been introduced in the U.S. Senate and will be introduced in the House later this week, proposes several ways to achieve that goal, including increased access to birth control and making information about sex, pregnancy, and childbearing available to young people.
   
   
3. Young people of color are still falling through the cracks. Latina teens and African American teen girls are more likely than not to become pregnant before turning twenty. Exhibit A: The Dallas Morning News recently announced the first babies born in 2009 in the area, a New Year's Day tradition, which included the first baby born at Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital to a fifteen-year-old Latina.
   
   
4. Our health care system could use a little work. Okay, some would argue that it needs a complete overhaul. Regardless of what steps are taken, they should improve access to the services that help women and couples successfully plan families and prevent pregnancy. That's just plain old basic health care.
   
   
5. Studies continue to show that preventing unplanned pregnancies actually saves money. This just in from the "Duh" files. And in this economy, what better to invest in than a public health intervention that both improves the lives and health of women and families and relieves some of the crunch that state and federal governments are feeling.
   
   

This list is exciting, daunting, jaw-dropping, (insert adjective of your choice here)...but more than anything, it's a reminder of all the work that we have to do this year and the ENORMOUS opportunities that we will have to make a difference on the issues that we care most about. Be sure to check out the more comprehensive list of The National Campaign's work in the policy realm.

Let's get to work, people.