January 7, 2010, Highlands Today

By Marc Valero

SEBRING - Highlands County's teen birth rates have remained unchanged but the state's have fallen, pushing the county once again into the top 10 with the highest per capita births to mothers under 18.

In 2008, Highlands County had 14.9 births to mothers under 18 per 1,000 (all sexes). Statewide, there were 8.2 births for the same number, according to the latest data from the Florida Department of Health.

"It seems like everything we do is not good enough," said Susan Beulow, coordinator of Highlands County's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Alliance.

At Tuesday's meeting of the alliance, she noted that in 2007 and 2008 there were 62 births to mothers under 18 in Highlands County, but the statewide numbers improved, and Highlands' ranking worsened from 14th in 2007 to ninth in 2008 in the number of per capita births of Florida's 67 counties.

Highlands was ranked 21st in 2006 and was even 29th in one year, Beulow noted.

"So we are going the wrong way," she said. "Out of 67 counties, we are ninth highest."

Highlands also ranked ninth in the state in 2008 in the per capita rate of births to mothers ages 10-14. Its ranking in 2007 was 15th.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Beulow said. "No matter what we do it seems like we are not doing enough or we are not doing it right.

"Hopefully, with the grant and some of our research that is going on, we will know what programs are really working so we can concentrate on those more."

It was noted that the effectiveness of a 2008 state and federal abstinence education grant won't be known until next year when the 2009 data is released.

"We are hoping to see a little bit of an upturn next year and this is the bottom," Beulow said.

Retired educator Gabriel Reed applauded the group's efforts and said the economic crisis has affected things.

After the meeting Buelow said the alliance's programs present things in a broad way because it is not known what works and what doesn't work.

"That's what's nice about the research we are doing; it will point us in the right direction," she said.

This is the second year for a new program with seventh-graders, which was presented in the spring last year and the fall this year, Beulow said, so it is too early to know its impact.

Data shows for births to mothers ages 15-19, Highlands County ranked 18th highest in the state with 57.8 per births per 1,000. The state rate was 40.7 births per 1,000.

Founded in 1997, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Alliance received additional funding from a community health survey, which listed teen pregnancy as the perceived "number one" community health problem in Highlands County.