States in Brief
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* Kim Krisberg

## Dramatic drop in Colorado teen births

Colorado’s teen birth rate dropped 40 percent between 2009 and 2013, the governor’s office announced in July.

In a news release, Gov. John Hickenlooper attributed the dramatic drop to a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment initiative that assists low-income women in accessing long-term contraceptives. The decline means Colorado moves from ranking 29th in the nation’s teen birth rate in 2008 to having the 19th-lowest teen birth rate as of 2012.

“Unintended pregnancies, especially among teenagers, carry health risks for mother and baby,” said Larry Wolk, MD, MSPH, the department’s executive director and chief medical officer. “Our Colorado Family Planning Initiative has helped thousands of young women who weren’t ready to have children avoid pregnancy with affordable, safe and effective contraceptives.”

According to the governor’s office, the Colorado Family Planning Initiative provided more than 30,000 intrauterine devices or implants at low or no cost to low-income women at 68 family planning organizations across the state since 2009. The decline in teen births among the women served at the clinics accounted for three-quarters of the overall decline.

## Mississippi engages barbers in health

Public health workers and their community partners in Mississippi are using mapping techniques to ensure that they are reaching at-risk residents with critical blood pressure and hypertension screenings.

The Mississippi State Department of Health is leading an effort to bring such screenings to at-risk populations and one program is known as Barbers Reaching Out To Help Educate on Routine Screenings, or BROTHERS. The program is designed to encourage barbers to routinely screen adult black men and refer those with high blood pressure to a health care provider. High blood pressure is higher among black men than other racial and ethnic groups.

Among the 686 black men who received blood pressure screenings and referrals, about 15 percent had normal blood pressure, nearly 49 percent had prehypertension and more than 36 percent had high blood pressure. Only 35 percent of those screened reported having a personal doctor and only 43 percent had health insurance.

To help community stakeholders recruit additional barber shops, public health workers created easy-to-read maps that combined the location of participating barber shops with heart disease mortality among black men by county. The resulting maps highlight which areas need additional screening opportunities.

The results were published in the July 24 issue of *Preventing Chronic Disease.*

## Illinois law to benefit community workers

A new Illinois law will eventually lead to new certification requirements for community health workers.

Signed in July, the law creates the 15-member Illinois Community Health Worker Advisory Board, which will recommend the certification requirements. The volunteer board will consist of community health workers, physicians, nurses and other health professionals and will recommend ways to standardize the process of becoming a certified community health worker.

“Community health workers are trusted frontline public health professionals who have a close understanding of their communities’ needs,” said Gov. Pat Quinn in a news release. “This new law recognizes the vital role these professionals play in the health care system and help ensure the best possible delivery and quality of services in neighborhoods across our state.”

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association