If the difference between statewide teen birth rates and Kern County teen birth rates were a matter of a few percentage points, we could chalk it up to the vagaries of statistics or the inconsistencies of human behavior. But California and Kern County teen birth rates are moving in opposite directions, with the statewide rate hitting a record low, and Kern's rate -- consistently high, and now at an astounding 65 births for every 1,000 girls -- almost double the state figure.

We've got a problem here -- a well-entrenched, life-compromising, financially devastating problem. Kern County teens are more likely to get pregnant than teens anywhere else in the state, and by a wide margin in most cases. The problem seems to be getting worse, not better, even as the rest of the state celebrates the lowest rate on record in the long-running battle.

The new statistics, released Monday by the California Department of Public Health, show that the rate of births among teen mothers in Kern County has jumped from 63.8 to 64.9 -- a reflection of the 2,285 babies born to Kern teen mothers in 2008, the most recent year for which numbers are available.

Kern County has challenges that other counties have solved, or perhaps never had to the same extent, and it's time for local leadership to address them. We've tried before: In 2000, Cal State Bakersfield won a $450,000, three-year grant specifically targeting teen pregnancy, with mentoring, sports and arts programs, and self-esteem building all on the menu.

It undoubtedly helped some girls -- yet here we are, dealing with the vast economic and personal costs of the state's worst teen pregnancy problem. It will take no less than a countywide, cross-cultural, multi-faceted effort by local opinion leaders of all stripes to make a difference. We call upon those leaders -- from those in Congress to ordinary business folk -- to renew the conversation.