Cynthia

In October 2010, the City of Milwaukee Department of Health announced a fourth consecutive drop in the city’s teen birth rate since 2006. This current trend indicates that Milwaukee is on track to reach its ambitious goal – to reduce births to 15- to 17-year-old girls by 46% to 2015.

The decline is attributed to Milwaukee’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, led by United Way of Greater Milwaukee. This determined group representing business, government, education, nonprofits, the faith community, health care, and law enforcement has successfully reduced Milwaukee’s teen birth rate to its lowest point in over 30 years.

The downward trend is seen across all racial and ethnic groups. But significant disparities persist; the rate is still much too high for Hispanic and non-Hispanic black girls. ¡Cuidate! (Take Care of Yourself) is the United Way-funded program at Centro Hispano Milwaukee’s Loyola Academy High School. It uses cultural beliefs that are common among Latinos, focusing on self-esteem, attitudes, decision-making, sexual violence and healthy relationships.

Cynthia Gonzalez, Healthy Girls Project Coordinator at Loyola Academy, says their program goal is to have zero pregnancies for program participants. So far, it’s working. Gonzalez says, “We’re moving in the right direction, but we still have to continue to attack the problem on all fronts. This is a community effort and all have to do their parts: parents,teachers, students, everyone.”