A pregnancy-prevention program for teens that works benefits not just the teens and their families, but taxpayers too. The economic impact of young parenthood is stunning. Preventing teen pregnancy would save the US $9 billion a year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (If the fund sank all of its $50 million into this problem and solved it, that would be quite a return on investment.) Where does the $9 billion cost come from?

Teen mothers have higher rates of preterm births, and their babies are more likely to suffer low birth weight - costly conditions from a number of perspectives. Teenage mothers are also more likely to drop out of high school and be single parents than women who delay childbirth. This erodes a teen’s income potential and her ability to participate in the economy. The children of these mothers are also more likely to be in poor health, repeat a school grade, be taken to the emergency room as infants, be incarcerated during adolescents -- and here’s the truly scary part – drop out of high school themselves, become teen parents, and be underemployed as adults.

This problem shows that the Office of Social Innovation needs to create a system of social invention that deals with some of society’s most intractable and durable problems. We need evidence that reflects the complexity of the problem and the cold hard facts that will stimulate political will.

We need to surrender the plans that don’t work -- I put “abstinence-only” education in that category – and find solutions that are proven to work. And we need to do it now. Sometimes 10 years of studying a problem is required, but not always. After the first McDonald’s succeeded, they didn’t wait 10 years before building the second one. A common-sense approach should help to speed solutions to the marketplace.

I applaud President Obama for his initiative in developing the Office of Social Innovation, but I caution him to make sure that that Office doesn’t get mired in red tape. Problems such as teen pregnancy are too dire for delay.