- Implements teen pregnancy prevention strategies through community-based teen pregnancy prevention projects.
- Provides adolescent health services.
- Develops programs that reduce risk-taking behaviors of adolescents (violence, suicide, unintentional injury, substance use).
- Promotes the health of adolescents through education, technical assistance and training for adult caregivers, teens, schools, communities, and health and youth service providers.
- Provides leadership for a legislatively recognized youth suicide prevention task force, providing technical assistance in assessment, policy development and assurance of services.
- Assists communities and organizations in promoting and building resilience in youth.
Adolescent Health
The Adolescent Health division of Maternal & Child Health addresses the most important health challenges among young people, which include too-early parenthood, intentional and unintentional injury, violence, substance abuse, and access to primary health care.
Target Population: Adolescents aged 11-21, parents of adolescents, community members and organizations, and health and youth service providers.
- Prevention education and activities in school and community settings as it relates to teen pregnancy, healthy relationships, and suicide.
- Enabling services (those services which enable organizations and communities to carry out their programs) include:
- Let's Talk Month, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month
- Assisting youth service agencies in identifying health needs of adolescents.
- Data dissemination.
- Population based services include:
- Violence and suicide prevention in school and community settings.
- Helping communities become more involved in the daily lives of adolescents.
- Community-based teen pregnancy prevention projects.
- Parent and community education.
- Advocacy for health coverage for adolescents through age 18.
- Infrastructure building services (those services that work to continually improve programs and services that are delivered to adolescents) include:
- Technical assistance, training, and evaluation for teen pregnancy prevention projects.
- Working with schools to help them identify resources for addressing the issues facing their students.
- Intra- and interagency coordination and collaboration on efforts to address adolescent health issues.
- Training health professionals in current adolescent health issues.
- Reduction of births to teens ages 15-19.
- Reduction of attempted and completed suicides among teens ages 15-19.
- Promotion and provision of health care, and access to health care for the adolescent population.
- Promotion and implementation of strategies that will reduce the risk-taking behaviors of adolescents.
- Involvement of communities in adolescent issues.
- Provision of coordinated efforts that will reduce morbidity and mortality during adolescence.
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Childhood and Adolescent Health Division
123 Robert S. Kerr Ave., Suite 1702
Oklahoma City, OK 73102-6406
Physical Address:
Oklahoma State Department of Health
123 Robert S. Kerr Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK
Phone: (405) 426-8085
