In December Congress passed legislation which included funding for a new and significant investment in efforts to prevent teen pregnancy. Since then, we have been preparing for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release the funding announcement, which will include the detailed criteria for programs that will be eligible to apply for grants. Through a competitive award process, this new teen pregnancy prevention initiative will provide $75 million for replicating programs with strong evidence of success and another $25 million for research and demonstration grants to develop, test, and refine promising programs and innovative strategies to reduce teen pregnancy. The recently-established U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health will administer this new program.

The National Campaign has been busy publicizing and promoting this initiative broadly and a big part of our outreach has been to Latino-serving organizations. So far we have launched a new web portal with key information about the federal funding, launched a series of conference calls and webinars to further discuss it, and published our updated What Works 2010: Curriculum-Based Programs That Help Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Bristol Palin, "arguably the most famous teen mother in America" (according to ABC), will make her acting debut on ABC Family's Secret Life of the American Teenager next season. She'll be playing herself - a teen mom - who meets the show's lead character, Amy Juergens, at a music program for teen moms. (Amy got pregnant during a one night encounter at band camp two summers ago). There is going to be a lot of snark about this - a) because the show is made for young teens (not snarky grownups) and can be a bit over the top when it comes to sex talk, b) because Bristol and her family have asked for privacy and being on TV isn't very private, and c) because Bristol is now an advocate for abstinence. In fact, the mean grrls at Jezebel are already on the case. As a mean girl (and Jez fan) myself, I expected nothing less.

But instead of being mean about it I'd like to applaud ABC Family for putting this show on the air in the first place, sticking with this storyline beyond Amy's first-season pregnancy, showing a glimpse of what teen parenthood might be like for an upper middle class girl in the leafy green suburbs of TV land, exploring in its own Secret-Life way how a single teen pregnancy affects not just the girl (and guy), but also their families, their friends, their worldviews and their futures, and for incorporating stories about sex that include gossip, regret, condoms, masturbation, waiting, and even helpful parental advice. The viewers love it.

This just in...

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced today that the teen birth rate in the great state of California has declined to a record low. Since 1990, the teen birth rate in the Golden State has plummeted--wait for it--a whopping 39%. 

What gives? CDPH notes that they administer a number of teen pregnancy prevention programs, including the Community Challenge Grant Program, the Information and Education Program, and the Family PACT (Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment) Program; the California Department of Social Services supports the Cal-Learn Program; and the California Department of Education funds the California School Age Families Education (CalSAFE) Program.

In short, the kitchen sink approach seems to work. Through multiple Governors (both Ds and Rs), the state has remained committed to preventing teen and unplanned pregnancy. Through lean budget times and salad days, the state has recognized the importance of a strategy that welcomes multiple strategies and interventions--clinic access and services, media, support for community programs...the list is long.

Bravo, California. Keep up the good work.

***This post was modified by the author on March 1, 2010.

Why might it be that in the 21st century, in the year 2010, teen pregnancy is still too often seen as a problem for girls? Despite real and important strides in recognizing the obvious two-to-tango biological imperative--for example, we now have more programs for boys and young men, more messages designed to reach them, and better data to understand them--the public still tends to equate teen pregnancy with teen mothers. Period. Not a father in sight.

Bravo to Kari Huus at MSNBC.com for telling the story of Nate Howell, a 19-year-old father-to-be. Nate is working heroically to help support the child his girlfriend is about to have; as he says, "it's my responsibility now and I'm going to own up to it." Unfortunately, Nate is the exception, not the rule.

Watch the compelling video of Nate (titled "Expecting a baby, at 19") as he discusses the challenges he already faces with impending fatherhood. Share the video with some other young person in your life. How can we all help Nate succeed?

An interesting new study from researchers at Ohio State University and UC Santa Barbara looks at the ways in which a TV drama and a news series -- both of which deal with teen pregnancy -- affect viewers' intentions to prevent pregnancy. The study's goal was to figure out not whether media has an influence, but rather how it influences viewers. Can it help them overcome resistance to helpful information and messages? Can it help break through their wall of denial, chipping away at the idea that "it won't happen to me"?

Just over 350 undergraduate men and women (ages 18-25) either watched episodes of The OC, Fox's beloved but long-ago canceled teen soap, or watched a portion of Channel One's "Mothers Too Soon" / "Fathers Too Soon," an award-winning news series for teens about the realities of teen motherhood. (Which, for the record, our Campaign worked on in partnership with Channel One, but did not develop, as the paper and press release assert. Also for the record: we provided the same set of messages and expertise to The OC for the teen pregnancy storyline used in this study).