Though it‘s trending downward, as it has for the past 20 years, teen pregnancy is still an issue in Indiana.
President and CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute Bill Stancykiewicz says Hamilton, Porter, Johnston and Hendricks counties, have some of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the state and in the country.
However Knox, Cass and Lawrence counties have some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the state of Indiana.
"Often our rural counties have higher rates, for example they have higher rates of child abuse and neglect, they often have higher rates of poverty, and they have higher rates of teen pregnancy," Stancykiewicz says.
He says some of the factors that may put a teen at risk for pregnancy include abuse, both physical, and sexual.