Reducing Teen Births
in Mississippi
 Overview
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Mississippi has the second highest teen birth rate in the United States . Teen births are a significant problem that has
many negative health, social, and economic consequences for youth, families, and communities throughout the state.
Though the teen birth rate in Mississippi has dropped in recent years, there is still much work to be done. Other states all
over the country have significantly decreased their teen birth rate by adopting medically accurate, age appropriate, and
evidence-based “abstinence-plus” sex education in their schools. The same can happen in Mississippi with adoption of
the Creating Healthy and Responsible Teens (CHART) Initiative in school districts throughout the state.
 The Problem
Teen birth rates in Mississippi has far exceeded the national averages (per 1,000 females age 15-19).
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Year
Mississippi
U.S.
2008
65.6
61.8
2009
64.1
41.5
2010
55.0
34.2
2011
50.2
31.3
2012
46.0
29.4
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Mississippi ranks 2nd in the United States in teen birth rate .
57.9% of Mississippi high school students have had sex by the end of 12th grade, the 2nd highest percentage in the
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nation .
22.1% of Mississippi high school students have had sex with four or more persons during their life, the 2nd highest
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percentage in the nation .
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78.1% of births to women aged 19 and younger were “unintended” .
 The Costs of Teen Births
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Teen childbearing in Mississippi cost taxpayers $155,000,000 in 2009 .
Each $1.00 invested in teen pregnancy prevention saves taxpayers an average of $4.34 in the first year and $17.23
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over 5 years, a 1,723% return on investment .
 CHART: A Solution
Evidence-based, age-appropriate, and medically accurate sex education programs have been proven to change teen
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behavior .
 Creating Healthy and Responsible Teens (CHART) is a free initiative that provides a choice of evidence-based,
age-appropriate, and medically accurate “abstinence-plus” sex education curricula to Mississippi schools.
 CHART provides free training and technical assistance through the Mississippi State Department of Health.
CHART is funded through Mississippi’s federal Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant.
 The recommended curricula include lessons that help parents talk to their kids about making healthy decisions.
 How to Get CHART in Your District
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ADOPT the CHART POLICY: School districts in Mississippi must adopt an “abstinence-plus” or an
“abstinence-only-until-marriage” sex education policy to be in compliance with the state’s sex education
law. CHART is an “abstinence-plus” policy that meets all of the state requirements. To download the
CHART policy, visit: http://www.mississippifirst.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/02/CHARTPolicy_AbstinencePlus_Schools-2012.pdf
SELECT a CHART-APPROVED CURRICULUM: After adopting the policy, school districts must
select a curriculum approved by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). The Mississippi State
Department of Health recommends a list of CHART-approved curricula that also appear on MDE’s list.
These curricula are all evidence-based, medically accurate, and age-appropriate. They have been proven
to positively change teen behavior. Districts participating in CHART will have a choice of middle or high
school curricula.
For more information on participating in CHART, please contact Mississippi First’s Deputy Director of Advocacy
Sanford Johnson at sanford@mississippifirst.org or Teen Health Policy Coordinator Josh McCawley at
josh@mississippifirst.org.
 Methods and Data Sources
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics Reports. (2013). Births: Final Data for 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_01.pdf#table02.
Mississippi Department of Health; Teenage Vital Statistics Data by County of Residence and Race of Mother; Mississippi, 2012:
http://msdh.ms.gov/phs/2012/Summary/teenc12.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Vital Statistics Reports. Births: Preliminary Data for 2012. Table 2, Page 9.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_03.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2011. MMWR; 61(4). Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6104.pdf.
Office of Health Data and Research. (2011). Mississippi PRAMS Surveillance Report, Year 2008. Mississippi State Department of Health. Retrieved from
http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/5078.pdf.
All taxpayer cost estimates are conservative estimates based on methodology developed in 1997 by a team of nationally recognized researchers lead by
Rebecca Maynard at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2008, Maynard and Saul Hoffman updated cost estimates per teen birth to tax payers and to society.
Costs for Mississippi counties were analyzed and provided by the Mississippi Economic Policy Center and were calculated based on the methodology
developed by Maynard in 2008. For more information: Maynard, RA; SD Hoffman (2008). Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs & Social Consequences of
Teen Pregnancy. Second Edition. The Urban Institute Press: Washington, DC.
Udeh, B; M. Losch; E. Spies. The Cost of Unintended Pregnancy in Iowa: A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Public Funded Family Planning Services. The Public
Policy Center at the University of Iowa. 2009. http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1047&context=ppc_health&seiredir=1#search=%22cost%20unintended%20pregnancy%20Iowa%20udeh%20cite%22.
K. Underhill, et al. (2007). Systematic Review of Abstinence-Plus HIV Prevention Programs in High-Income Countries. PLOS Med 4.9 (2007): e275.