Online StoreLOS ANGELES, CA – November 18, 2011 – According to the latest data released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the birth rate for U.S. teens hit a record low in 2010 falling to 34.3 births per 1,000 teenagers aged 15-19. California continues to play a critical role in this national success story, with a decline of 9.9 percent for teens aged 15-19.
“The unprecedented drop in the teen birth rate further underscores the importance of Title X and statewide programs like California's Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment, Family PACT,” said Julie Rabinovitz, President and CEO of the California Family Health Council. “Family PACT, combined with the prevention activities supported by federal Title X funding, has dramatically decreased the rates of adult and teen unintended pregnancies statewide. Without these programs, many teens would not have access to the confidential, comprehensive, and no cost contraceptive services they need to help them prevent pregnancy.”
Title X of the Public Health Services Act is the cornerstone of the federal domestic family-planning program. It is the only federal program exclusively dedicated to family planning and reproductive-health services. In California, Title X and Family PACT make up a critical piece of the state’s teen pregnancy prevention strategy.
- Title X clinics provide comprehensive health services in 43 of the state’s 58 counties
- In 2010 alone, Title X clinics in California served 1,222,677 patients
- Of those patients, 244,363 -- approximately 20% -- were 19 or younger
- Roughly one out of every five Family PACT clients is under 20 years old
Cost-benefit analysis further stresses the importance of programs like Title X and Family PACT:
- Unplanned pregnancies cost taxpayers an estimated $11 billion per year. Without publicly funded family planning services, these costs would be 60 percent higher.
- Every $1 invested in Title X and in helping women and teens avoid unwanted pregnancies saves taxpayers $4.02.
- The total public sector cost-savings of the pregnancies averted attributable to Family PACT female clients in 2007 was $1.88 billion from conception to age two.
- Although adolescents account for approximately 27% of the total pregnancies averted by Family PACT, they account for 44% of the cost-savings.
“While the continuing decline in the teen birth rate is a great public achievement worth celebrating, we must remember that our work is far from over. We must continue to invest in cost-saving programs like Title X and Family PACT if we want to maintain our significant progress,” said Rabinovitz.
To view the full report from NCHS, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_02.pdf
For more information on the California Family Health Council, visit www.cfhc.org.
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