Children and Families
Number of Births to Teens, ages 15-19 (per 1000).
Definition: Number of live births to girls ages 15 to 19. The rate is expressed per 1,000 girls of that age group.
Rationale: The risk factor meets all the criteria and can be generated for comparisons on the county, state, and national levels. This statistic is also in the Kids Count databook and can be tracked nationally via United Way's State of Caring Index. It often is correlated to other community concerns such as school graduation/drop-outs, children at risk of abuse, children in poverty, etc.
Data Source: Missouri Department of Health http://www.dhss.mo.gov.; Missouri Office of Administration http://www.oa.mo.gov, Division of Budget and Planning http://www.oa.mo.gov/bp/
