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Healthy Youth = Healthy families = healthy Community

Training young people to build skills to maintain a healthy self, healthy relationships, and healthy future has a huge impact on building healthy families and healthy communities.

Shasta County Health and Human Services, in collaboration with other agencies, have been working to reduce risks and to expand efforts for prevention education in Shasta County. CYP wants to strengthen these efforts by making primary prevention education more accessible and readily available.

Success is happening,
but we need to continue the work.

 

⇓ SEE HOW SHASTA COUNTY MEASURES UP ⇓

SHASTA COUNTY NEEDS

 

SHASTA YOUTH AT A HIGHER RISK

Youth in Shasta County (SC) are particularly vulnerable to sexual risk behaviors when compared to their peers in the state; they experience higher rates of child abuse and neglect (99.4 to 52.9), Teen Birth Rate (20.1 to 13.6) and STIs (i.e., Syphilis 23.1 to 8.6 and Chlamydia 835.2 to 683.9), being in foster care (10.4 to 5.3), they have almost double the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in every category, and much lower school attainment. Additionally, a quarter (25.4 %) of children in SC live under the federal poverty threshold.

 

AREAS OF FOCUS

 Teen Pregnancy

 

TEEN BIRTH RATE

The TBR in Shasta County is a marker indicating that the population needs increased support and intervention concerning sexual risk avoidance. According to the report from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the average birth rate for teens ages 15-19 in Shasta County for the years 2016-2018 was much higher at 17.7 per 1,000¹ compared to California’s state-wide rate for 2018 of 12.3.²

Table 1. Average TBR for Teens ages 15-19

Teen Birth Rate by Demographics:
Furthermore, the TBR among white women in Shasta County³ is 24.4, more than twice the overall teen birth rate of California’s 9.4, demonstrating a greater need for intervention directed toward white female teens aged 15-19 in Shasta County, which account for 72% of teen births.

Teen birth rates for Hispanic and Native American women in Shasta County decreased by the end of the 2000s, but the Native American rate has been increasing since 2010, also showing the need to target interventions to the Native American populations as well.

Table 2. Average TBR for Teens

This study was done for ages age 15-19 per 1,000

FINANCIAL BURDEN TO TAXPAYERS

The most recent year for which data exists concerning the financial burden of teen childbearing was the 2012-2014 average from the Shasta County HHS website.⁸ However, even at the 2012-14 rate, the financial burden to taxpayers in Shasta County was $2.8 million. This is due to increased costs associated with criminal justice, public assistance, and child welfare as well as decreased revenue in taxes. This equates to roughly $18,800 per birth. In 2011, about 86% of delivery costs for Shasta County teen births were paid for with public revenue, while 59% of non-teenage births were covered with public funds.

 
$2.8 Million
was the financial burden to Shasta taxpayers

SExually Transmitted Infections (STI)

 

According to the CDC’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance report, 27.4 % of California’s high schoolers reported being sexually active (i.e. had intercourse with at least one person during the previous three-month period). Although there has been a significant decline in the teen birth rate overall, the increased rate of STIs in young people is alarming and needs immediate intervention. The latest CDC’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance data indicate that young people ages 15-24 account for more than half of STIs reported annually.

50%
newly diagnosed STI's come from age group 15-24

Shasta County’s Need

Given the above data, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are another problem area that warrants intervention in the form of sexual risk avoidance education. The average rate of both Chlamydia and Gonorrhea was higher than the average in CA in 2018⁴.

CHLAMYDIA

According to a Shasta County HHS web report, as of 2018, Chlamydia is the most widespread sexually transmitted infection in the nation. In Shasta County the rates of Chlamydia infection have increased, according to HHS11 web data. In 2008, there were 246 reported cases for every 100,000 residents. In 2016, this number increased by over 400 cases, to 649 cases for every 100,000 residents. Females 15-24 years old comprised 45% of the 649 cases, while 18% of the cases occurred in males 20-29 years old. This also corresponds to national statistics. These statistics highlight the need for interventions to be targeted to youth.

Table 3. STIs Comparison

A 2018 study indicates the number of cases in California & Shasta County per 100,000 people.

GONORRHEA

Gonorrhea is another STI of current concern. In Shasta County there has been a jump in the rate of Gonorrhea infection in recent years. Between 1992 and 2011, the average rate every three years remained between 14 and 30 cases for every 100,000 male and female residents, with 14 reported for 2006 to 2008. In 2016, the rate jumped to 191. The statistics show that immediate attention and intervention is needed. Given this data, primary prevention efforts for teens to avoid these risks are essential.

Table 4. Average Rates of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Infection

The study indicates the number of cases in Shasta County per 100,000 people.

HIV

A report by the Office of AIDS, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Section of the California Department of Public Health⁵ states that nationwide, Blacks and Hispanics, men who have sex with men, and young people (age 13-24) are disproportionately affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The rate of persons with HIV per 100,000 reported in 2020 for California was 348.1. In Shasta County, the rate was 127.0⁶. Though the Shasta County HIV incidence is lower than the California average, it must be kept in mind that the demographic that we are serving, youth ages 12-19, are disproportionately affected by HIV. In addition, the rate of persons newly diagnosed with HIV infection doubled from 2012 to 2016, 1.7 to 3.9.⁷ This reflects the same pattern of increase in the STI rates. There is a clear need for medically accurate, evidence-based education as the core of an HIV prevention strategy.

 

CRIME RATES

 

The indexes for violent crime and property crime averages are much higher in Shasta County than the national average: 30.2 to 22.7 and 56.0 to 35.4⁸. This may explain the higher average rate of children being placed in foster care in Shasta County than the state average.

Table 5. Average Crime Index ranked 1 to 100.

Poverty Rate

 

In Shasta County, 25% of children live below the poverty threshold.⁹

 

ADVERSE Childhood Experiences (ACE)

 

ACEs Impact On HEALTH PROBLEMS

Research shows that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)—exposure in childhood to negative experiences such as incarceration, abuse, mental illness, relationship stress—correlate with poor health outcomes as well as higher levels of sexual risk-taking such as having intercourse by age 15, having at least 30 sexual partners, and bearing or fathering a child as a teen. Given the high rate of ACEs in Shasta County, and the correlation shown here, a proactive intervention targeted toward teens to learn risk avoidance strategies is a necessary effort.

Correlation between ACE Score and Teen Sexual Behaviors

Source: Dr. Robert Anda and Dr. Vincint Felitti, Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, 1995

Shasta County

Among residents of SC, a high percentage have been exposed to ACEs; in four out of seven categories, SC has almost double or more than double the statewide rates for ACEs (see Table 6). Additionally, from 2016-2019, 53.2% of children in SC had at least one ACE compared to 36.2% overall in CA.

Table 6. ACEs In Shasta County

The most common reported ACEs in Shasta County was household verbal abuse (55%), parental separation or divorce (44%), household mental illness (44%), and physical abuse (35%).

CITATIONS:

 

1 Dr. Robert Anda ACEs Study 1995. https://multco.us/file/37959/download

2  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11589541

3  https://www.kidsdata.org/region/326/shasta-county/summary#1/child-and-youth-safety

4  https://www.mirecc.va.gov/docs/visn6/3_ptsd_checklist_and_scoring.pdf

5 Barbee AP, Cunningham MR, van Zyl MA, Antle BF, Langley CN. Impact of Two Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Interventions on Risky Sexual Behavior: A Three-Arm Cluster Randomized Control Trial. Am J Public Health. 2016;106(S1):S85-S90. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303429

6 Michael R. Cunningham, Michiel A. van Zyl, Kevin Borders. Findings from an Innovative Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program: Evaluation of Love Notes and Reducing the Risk in Louisville, KY: Final Impact Report for University of Louisville Research Foundation. Louisville KY Univ Louisville Res Found. Published online January 2016:54.

7 Mathematica. Love Notes: HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review. Accessed July 7, 2021. https://tppevidencereview.youth.gov/document.aspx?rid=3&sid=281&mid=5

8 https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/county/california/shasta

9 US Census Bureau, 2018