Be sure to like us on Facebook @ncyouthconnected
Happy New Year!

We are so excited to see what the new year brings! Thank you to all of our partners and community supporters in Cumberland and Wayne Counties. Please find updates from this past
  year in this issue below. We hope this new year brings you joy and great success!
~ The NCYC Team
Teen Pregnancy Rates Are on the Decline

Newly-released data from the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics revealed an overall decrease in teen pregnancy across the state of North Carolina! North Carolina's teen (15-19-year-old females) pregnancy rate fell 7% in 2016, marking an all-time low for the ninth consecutive year. Our two NCYC project counties experienced even larger declines in teen pregnancy: the rate in Cumberland County fell 13% in 2016 and 9% in Wayne County.

Teen pregnancy rates in both counties were also reduced among White and Black girls (though slightly increased among Hispanic girls), and were most reduced among older teens aged 18-19. Scholars attribute this growing decline in teen pregnancy rates across the U.S. to more youth delaying sexual initiation, as well as increased birth control use among teens who do have sex. The NCYC initiative helps mobilize communities to continue these trends in teen pregnancy reduction by bringing proven  prevention programs to scale and strengthening clinic linking efforts for youth. 


For more information, please clear  here!

What's the Buzz
Recent News about Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Congratulations to the Cumberland County Health Department for their feature in this Spectrum News piece about declining teen pregnancy rates! Published Dec. 29, 2017

Cumberland County teen pregnancy rates are on the decline, check out this piece in the Fayetteville Observer. Published Jan. 14, 2018
YLC Elections in Cumberland County

The Cumberland County Youth Leadership Council (YLC) has elected their very first leadership board! All nominees were asked to present a short speech to the group and ballots were then cast for the three positions of President, Vice President, and Secretary. The three elected positions will be responsible to planning all future YLC meetings! Please join us in congratulating the following teens!

President: Aysa B.
VP: Tahir H.
Secretary: Christian O.

Wayne County Youth Leadership Council

NCYC is proud to announce a new Youth Leadership Council in Wayne County! This group is co-led by Naisha Coley a health educator for WATCH and Yvette Williams the Family Life Coordinator for Wayne County Public Schools. The Wayne YLC had their kickoff meeting in November with 11 young people interested in being a part of this council. They hope to create a pamphlet for schools (targeting 8th and 9th graders); present at a health fair in the spring; and get information to parents. We are so excited to help them achieve their goals!

Teens Reached in Year 3

The NCYC initiative's intent is to reach youth county-wide in both counties. Strategies to reach youth include mobilizing community members to bring evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs (EBPs) to scale and strengthening clinic referral and linking efforts across the counties. In the first half of project year 3, NCYC efforts reached 853 youth in 26 settings with 11 different programs.
NCYC Spotlight

NC Youth Connected is honored to spotlight Kamiya Dancy, a Community Health Educator for Cumberland County. Kamiya's project goal for the year was to reach 100 youth, however, Kamiya was able to reach 121 youth within 6-months! In addition to being a full-time Health Educator, Kamiya is obtaining her Masters of Social Work (MSW) at Fayetteville State University (FSU) and was honored in 2017 by the FSU National Alumni Association for her fundraising contributions. With her tenacious outreach & recruitment expertise, Kamiya will continue to serve the NCYC team in achieving our initiative goal of cutting teen pregnancy rates in half by
 the year 2020. In the words of Kamiya, "BRONCO PRIDE!"

NC Youth Connected on Facebook

NC Youth Connected will be posting regularly on everything related to teen pregnancy prevention, adolescent sexual health, and local programs in Cumberland and Wayne Counties. Stay up-to-date by liking our page today.

Like Us on Facebook!
  NC Youth Connected | [email protected] | www.ncyouthconnected.org

Like us on Facebook