Affecting Michigan's Public Policy on Teen Pregnancy
Lessons Learned
Calhoun County
Community Engagement in Action
When Battle Creek, Michigan, began a community indicators process in 1999, the city had a teen pregnancy rate 200 percent higher than the State average and 93 percent higher than the rest of Calhoun County. As a result, community members identified teen pregnancy as a key target area for action.
Ironically, though, when the United Way of Greater Battle Creek solicited grant proposals from their funded agencies for programs to reduce the teen pregnancy rate, no proposals were received. This was, unfortunately, consistent with a long history in Battle Creek of failed community efforts on this issue. (Anecdotes from residents discussed attempts going back as far as twenty years.) The issue was seen as "no win" for organizations that depended on the community for funding, because the community was seen as splintered along moral and cultural lines. Community agencies, schools, public health programs, and the justice system were reluctant to become embroiled in community conflict over this issues, and thus were, at best, ineffective in their efforts to prevent teen pregnancy.
Breaking the Cycle of Futility
The United Way became determined to break this cycle of futility. They quickly enlisted the Battle Creek Community Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and Calhoun County Department of Public Health as collaborative partners. This model of "moving out" the ownership of the problem and its solutions to ever broadening concentric circles was a meaningful shift in approach. Ultimately, they hoped that the community as a whole would develop a sense of ownership of this issue, not simply the agencies whose missions should have dictated involvement.
The partners first researched the best practices of successful teen pregnancy prevention efforts in other communities. (A comprehensive report of these research results is available on The Collaboratory website). The partners learned that, along with multiple strategies, broad community engagement was an element present in all successful programs. In response, they began a process of community convening and shared planning:
- An introductory/overview meeting brought together individuals who
were concerned about the high teen pregnancy rate. Nearly 100 people
attended the June 2000 meeting. All sectors of the community were represented:
schools, nonprofit agencies (from Planned Parenthood to Catholic Social
Services), neighborhood centers, criminal justice representatives, business/economic
development leaders, faith-based community organizations, local unions,
and involved citizens. Through a facilitated discussion, they discovered
a shared desire for "our daughters to not become pregnant while
they are still children."
- A public relations effort was launched which made extensive use of
the local media, billboards, and advertisements to inform the community
of the issue and the strategies for solution.
- A widely diverse group of community members drafted a strategic plan
for a shared effort to reduce teen pregnancy.
- A second community-wide meeting, held in November 2000, brought together
more than 75 people to learn about the research and planning and determine
next steps.
- Over a series of meetings in winter/spring 2001 the Teen Pregnancy
Prevention Acting Governing Body was established with the mission to
dramatically reduce the rate of teen pregnancy in Calhoun County, Michigan.
- Additional partners were then enlisted, including the University of Michigan and its Global Program on Youth initiative, to help the Governing Body use the Internet and other technologies to keep the community informed, provide information and referral services, provide support to parents, network with other communities and national teen pregnancy organizations, and sustain local community commitment.
While it is too early to measure whether Battle Creek is reducing teen
pregnancy, the original partners have succeeded in broadening community
engagement and ownership of the process. Most telling is that, in the
first United Way funding cycle since the initiation of the community engagement
effort, six agencies applied to the United Way for funding of teen pregnancy
prevention efforts.
Muskegon County
Lessons learned to be added soon.
Wayne County
Lessons learned to be added soon.
Last updated: 2/11/03
Home| Contact Us| About GPY | Projects | Spotlight
University of Michigan
Global Program on Youth, School of
Social Work Building, Room 3743
1080 South University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106 ssw.global@umich.edu