County gets state cash to address teen pregnancy in Dist. 300

Community Unit District 300 will the focal point for Kane County's efforts to reduce local teen pregnancy rates for the next five years. The county's rate has been more than double that of some of its neighbors in recent years.

County health officials announced they've been awarded a state grant in conjunction with the Algonquin-based district to implement new teen pregnancy prevention curriculum. The county will receive nearly $95,000 for the work in the first of what is expected to be a five-year program. The money comes from the Illinois Department of Human Services Bureau of Positive Youth Development.

Barb Jeffers, executive director of the county health department, said District 300 officials applied for the cash jointly with the department. The district's principals and administration have all bought in, Jeffers said.

"We worked directly with the district to come up with evidence-based practice," she said. "We know the practice, but they know their kids."

Specific data about teen pregnancy rates in District 300 schools was not immediately available Wednesday. District spokesman Anthony McGinn said he doesn't believe the district has more of a teen pregnancy problem than any other district in the area. However, both he and Jeffers indicated the district's demographics and socioeconomics likely matched what the state is targeting with the grant program.

Officials from the Illinois Department of Human Services did not respond to questions about the grant program criteria Wednesday.

McGinn said District 300 officials were unaware the grant had been approved. They have not had discussions about the program with the county since September.

But state public health figures indicate teen pregnancy is more of problem in Kane County than any of the other collar counties in recent years. The most recent stats, from 2013, show 6.8 percent of births in Kane County were to teen parents. Numbers for the same year show 3.1 percent of the births in DuPage County were to teens. Cook County was at 5.3 percent. Lake County came in at 5.6 percent. And McHenry County was at 3.3 percent.

Jeffers said the curriculum will be a mix of information on abstinence and contraceptives. It will target both male and female students and their parents. Jeffers said the program will be a reality check and start with middle school students.

"We need to start early to keep the future and success at the forefront for them," Jeffers said. "We need to give them some reality. In reality, even as an adult, it's very difficult to raise a child. It is not glamorous."

A challenging aspect of the program will be encouraging parents to have difficult conversations with their middle school students about a taboo topic, sex.

"I suspect there are still a huge group of parents who don't talk to their kids about sex," Jeffers said. "It's not that they don't want to; they don't know how. They still see the (middle schoolers) as little kids. The reality is that it's happening at younger and younger ages. One of our goals is to teach parents how to have that conversation."