THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

            The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy 
                  and The Welfare to Work Partnership

                              May 7, 1999

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was created in response to President Clinton's 1995 State of the Union challenge to "parents and leaders all across this country to join together in a national campaign against teen pregnancy." The Campaign is a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative whose mission is to prevent teen pregnancy by supporting vales and promoting actions that are consistent with a pregnancy-free adolescence. Since its founding, the Campaign has worked in a nonpartisan, broad-based manner with all the sectors of society that play a role in reducing teen pregnancy including states and communities, faith-based groups, the media, researchers, parents, and teens themselves. The Campaign's efforts include synthesizing research findings, producing user-friendly brochures with tips for parents, teens, and faith leaders, providing technical assistance to local communities, and encouraging media leaders to send a more responsible message about preventing teen pregnancy. These efforts have played a critical role in reducing the U.S. teen birth rate by 16 percent from 1991 to 1997.

Thomas H. Kean, the former governor of New Jersey and the President of Drew University, serves as the Campaign's chairman and Isabel V. Sawhill serves as the Campaign's President. The Campaign is guided by a Board of Directors comprised of corporate leaders and research, program, and communications experts and has a bipartisan House and Senate advisory panel. It is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization.

The Welfare to Work Partnership

In his 1997 State of the Union, the President announced that five major corporations would be the first to join in "a new national effort to marshal America's businesses, large and small, to create jobs so that people can move from welfare to work."

The nonprofit Welfare to Work Partnership was formally launched in May 1997 to lead the national business effort to hire people from the welfare rolls and has now grown to more than 10,000 businesses of all sizes and from all sectors of the economy. Since 1997, these businesses have hired over 410,000 welfare recipients. The Partnership provides technical assistance and support to businesses around the country, including: its toll-free number 1-888-USA-JOB1, a web site, a quarterly newsletter, and a "Blueprint for Business" hiring manual. The Partnership also published "The Road to Retention," a report of companies that have found higher retention rates for former welfare recipients than for other new hires, and strategies they used to achieve this success.

Gerald Greenwald, the chairman of United Airlines, serves as the Partnership's chairman and Eli J. Segal serves as the Partnership's President and CEO. The Partnership is led by a Board of Directors comprised of CEOs and corporate leaders and is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization.