Cross-posted from RH Reality Check's On Common Ground section.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is excited to join with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, and the National Foster Care Coalition in a partnership to focus on reducing the disproportionately high teen pregnancy rate among youth in and aging out of foster care. Since 2005, this population has been a major focus of the Campaign's work, both because this is a group of young people with high rates, and because it's an area where more attention and research is needed to make progress and improve child well-being.

As a first step, our newly formed working group sponsored a briefing on Thursday entitled, "Preventing Teen Pregnancy and Promoting Health Relationships among Youth in Foster Care." Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) was part of the Congressional Roundtable Discussion at which the announcement of the new working group was made. She pointed out that the government has a special obligation to take care of the children in its custody, and given some of the reproductive health outcomes of this group, we all could be doing a better job of making sure this happens.

We all go to plenty of meetings--some more interesting than others. One of the most energizing ones I've been to was a Roundtable last week that The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy hosted in conjunction with Healthy Teen Network, and with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, on the topic of teen pregnancy prevention among youth in foster care. Teams of program leaders and practitioners in the fields of teen pregnancy prevention and child welfare from eight states (Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Virginia) rolled their sleeves up and went to work at an interactive roundtable where they developed concrete plans for how to reduce teen pregnancy among young people in and transitioning out of foster care through policy, program, and practice changes.

A highlight of the meeting was a panel with four young adults who had been in foster care and are currently involved with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. Stay tuned for a video of this session that will be available on our website soon. A DVD featuring some of the state experts at the meeting will also be available in the coming months.

The more than half a million children in foster care are at significant risk for pregnancy. One study found that almost half of girls in foster care became pregnant at least once by age 19 and 71 % became pregnant at least once by age 21. This has serious consequences for teens and their families, as well as financial costs to the child welfare system. However, youth in foster care have been largely overlooked in terms of teen pregnancy prevention.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is working to raise awareness and spark action about the high rates of teen pregnancy among youth in foster care through research, technical assistance, and partnerships with organizations that focus on child welfare. Check back soon for updates about this project!

Authorities in Texas have removed 53 teen girls from a polygamist compound and they report that 31 of them are pregnant or have already had children.  That's 57% of the girls.  Creepy, dangerous, sad, shocking, awful - it seems like everyone has an opinion.  It also seems as if there are unlimited resources to deal with this problem.  Child Protective Services, the foster care system, law enforcement, the news media, the healthcare system, religious entities, groups like the ACLU - all these and more are concerned, engaged, watching, helping, hoping.

These girls and their children are important, and their fates and futures hang in the balance to be sure.  But what about the millions of other teenage girls in this country who are growing up in situations which lead them to teen pregnancy and childbearing?  There are communities all over the United States where more than half of girls get pregnant as teens.  Among Latina girls in this country, 53% get pregnant at least once as teens.  Among African American girls, 51%.  In fact, 30% of ALL teen girls in America get pregnant before age 20.  That means every state, every county, every community, every high school, and more and more junior high schools too.

Where is the outcry about these girls?  Where is the intervention?  Where is the government, the news media, the cultural intelligentsia?  Why are the little voices inside our heads that are asking so many questions about the FLDS girls - about their clothes, their lifestyles, their beliefs, their parents, their community - why are those voices so silent about the fates and futures of the girls elsewhere in this country?

One of those compound girls had a baby yesterday.  She delivered her son while child welfare officials, state troopers, reporters, and others waited outside the hospital maternity ward.  She is one of 750,000 teen girls who will have a baby this year.  Who is waiting for them?