Better Together Hennepin: Healthy Communities, Healthy Youth

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

In 2006, the County began the Better Together Hennepin: Healthy Communities, Healthy Youth Initiative to help prevent teenage pregnancies. Hennepin County recognizes that youth thrive when they wait until adulthood to become parents and that healthy, self-reliant young people, in-turn, build stronger communities. Better Together Hennepin brings the County schools, parents, faith communities, libraries, and community organizations together in new ways. The program focuses activity in two communities, Richfield and Brooklyn Center, which have the highest teen birth rates in the County. A variety of programs provide young people with the strong foundation they need to delay parenthood until they become adults. This foundation includes responsible sex education, accessible reproductive health services, opportunities for relationships with caring adults, and an array of other healthy youth development programs. The County convenes the partners and provides program funding, strategic direction, and substantial training and technical assistance. Thus far, the Better Together Hennepin program has shown positive, statistically-significant changes among program participants’ sexual beliefs, values, attitudes, and intentions, leading to reduced chances for teenage pregnancies.