HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-2000-089 Resolution endorsing the expansion of the TEEN VOICES Peer Education Program e:)C..) C) O C)
Orange County Board of Commissioners
Resolution for Official Endorsement of the TEEN VOICES Peer Education Program
WHEREAS, the TEEN VOICES Peer Education Program is an adolescent pregnancy
prevention and youth development program, sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Orange
and Durham Counties; and
WHEREAS, TEEN VOICES empowers teenagers to make responsible choices based on
their own ethics and values, by providing them with medically accurate, factual
information; and
WHEREAS, TEEN VOICES Peer Educators receive 40 hours of training on a variety of
teen health and social concerns, and then share this information with friends, family, and
community members; and
WHEREAS, TEEN VOICES began as a pilot program in Durham County, training 45
Peer Educators who will potentially educate over 1,350 members of the community
between March 2000 and March 2001; and
WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties is now applying for
funding from the North Carolina Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program to expand
peer education programming to Orange County; and
WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties hope to partner with
other Orange County human services organizations in providing Peer Educator training
and referrals; and
WHEREAS, the United States still leads the industrialized world in teen pregnancy and
birth rates, despite recently declining rates; and
WHEREAS, adolescent pregnancy in North Carolina cost North Carolina taxpayers
$807,800,000 in Fiscal Year 1997; and
WHEREAS, Orange County's 1999 rate of adolescent pregnancy per 1,000 15-19 year
old girls was 35.9, according to the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North
Carolina.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of
Commissioners endorses Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties' proposal
to the North Carolina Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, because the TEEN
VOICES Peer Education Program will serve our high school students and partner with
area human services organizations in an effort to continue reducing the rate of adolescent
pregnancy in Orange County.
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This is the P
day of October 2000.
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Mos;s Carey, Jr. Chair
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