Several years ago, KHA staff and staff members from other agencies created the Family Planning Collaborative, and KHA staff have continued to play a major role in this effort.

The Family Planning Collaborative Mission:
To provide education, encouragement, and support for the family planning efforts
of women and families, and, in so doing,
reduce the number of teenage and unintended pregnancies.

KHA and other social service and health care providers recognized that unintended pregnancies (which result in about half of the births in the United States) are a major threat to the health and financial well-being of children and families. They are also responsible for enormous social service and health costs. These agencies formed the FPC to coordinate their education and case management efforts.

With limited funding, the FPC:

• Keeps records of pregnancy intentions and other characteristics of women giving birth at Cheshire Medical Center (CMC)
• Provides education and support to social service providers to help them discuss family planning and birth control. Also provides educational materials
• Coordinates efforts with Dartmouth Hitchcock and Planned Parenthood to provide birth control education.
• Provides free condoms in some social service restrooms.
• Provides birth control education at Keene's transitional housing programs and other sites.

In the last three years, the number of teen births at CMC has dropped more than 30%! As a result, Cheshire County’s teen birth statistics are among the best in NH.

Births from unintended pregnancies at CMC have dropped from about 50% to about 40% of total births. While this is an improvement, it shows that more work is needed.

In March, 2000, Linda Mangones of KHA and Christine Spicher of the City of Keene received the Knowledge is Power award at the annual meeting of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for their efforts to promote family planning and birth control among low-income women.

In addition, Linda Mangones has recently completed a book Family Planning for the 21st Century: What you can do to prepare emotionally, physically, and financially for becoming a parent in a changing world. This is a basic, easy-to-read guide intended to encourage both women and men to plan and prepare for parenthood.