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Welcome to C.H.A.R.T Teen Task Force

CHART is attempting to accomplish its objectives by various free community educational programs. Some of the programs are carried out in schools in the seven county area, others are offered in the community. The counties served by the CHART Teen Task Force include Marion, Ralls, Pike, Shelby, Monroe, Lewis and Clark

CHART realizes that it takes an entire community working together to help our teenagers. That is why it has collaborated with multiple groups including the County Health Departments, Hannibal Regional Hospital, University Extension, Northeast Missouri Community Action Corporation, Caring Communities, the Northeast Missouri County Medical Society, school nurses, teachers, teens and parents.

CHART has been honored many times for its efforts to stop unplanned teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. The National Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting and Prevention selected CHART as an Outstanding Local Coalition and CHART has been the recipient of the Missouri Governor's Award for Community Health Leadership in 1996 and 1997 and runner-up in 1998. While these honors are great, they are not CHART's objectives.

A non-profit corporation, CHART has been an agency with the United Way of the Mark Twain Area since 1997. CHART is guided by a five person Board of Directors. Together, they direct a dedicated coalition of community volunteers with no paid staff.

Each year in Northeast Missouri, more than 100 babies are born to teenage mothers. If those numbers startle you, consider this - they could be higher! But since 1995, a coalition of dedicated volunteers formed together to address the problem of a rising teen birth rate. CHART Teen Task Force has been a leader in lowering the number of births to teens. But there is much more to be done. The primary goal of CHART is to decrease the rate of births to teens by at least 1/3 over the baseline year of 1995 by the year 2005. Its vision is clear: a healthy community with no unplanned teen pregnancies and no sexually transmitted diseases.

CHART has a mission to provide teens with the information to make responsible informed decisions about their sexuality. Education is the key, but that is easier said than done. CHART works to build self-esteem, offers role-playing, facilitates responsible decisions and encourages communication within families about sexuality issues.

Our objectives are very clear:

  • Decreasing the sexually transmitted disease rate by 3% a year as measured by the number of cases of Chlamydia.

  • Decreasing the teen birth rate by 1/3 by the year 2005, using 1995 as the base year.

  • Increasing to at least 85% the proportion of people aged 10 through 18 who have discussed human sexuality with their parents.