Take control

A promising Oklahoma strategy for preventing unplanned teen pregnancies

Choosing when and whether to have children is an important decision for Oklahoma families. When families are given more power to plan pregnancies and births, they are shown to attain more education, earn higher incomes, and have stronger marriages.

However, unplanned pregnancies, including teen pregnancies, are more common in Oklahoma than in most other states. Having children during high school or college is tied to lower graduation rates for both. Women who become pregnant as teens tend to earn lower wages, rely more on social services, and are more likely to get into trouble with the criminal justice system. These outcomes bring large costs for entire communities.

This is why access to highly effective forms of birth control is important. A new report from Oklahoma Policy Institute assesses a promising pilot project that is showing success in preventing teen pregnancy. ​For the last few years, the Take Control Initiative (TCI) in Tulsa County has provided education, outreach, and free clinical services while working with more than 15 safety net clinics. TCI has especially focused on providing long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) to nearly 13,000 women since 2010. In addition, TCI provides comprehensive education on all forms of contraception, working with more than 100 outreach partners to increase awareness and access.

Carly Putnam is a policy analyst with Oklahoma Policy Institute. For the rest of this article and more, visit okpolicy.org.