Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

A-Plus Program Puts Young Women Back On Track To Successful Life

Dr. Sandra B. Nichols, Director

Arkansas Department of Health

During the fall of 1994, Kacie Mitchell (not her real name) was an unmarried 16-year-old high school junior with a six-month-old daughter.

According to statistical trends, she would likely become pregnant again, turn to welfare assistance and drop out of school. Today Kacie is a high school graduate and college sophomore, who is busy planning her upcoming wedding and looking forward to a career in elementary education.

She credits the A-PLUS Program (Adolescent Parents Learning Useful Skills) with putting her on track to a successful life.

According to Kacie, "As a single parent you really don't have anyone to relate to as a friend. A-PLUS provides you with a `special friend,' someone you can talk to and do things with and give you confidence. I was in my `special friends' wedding party and she is going to be in mine."

The A-PLUS Program, administered by the Washington County Health Unit, provides support groups, parenting eduaction, referrals and volunteer mentors (called `special friends') for first time pregnant or parenting teens. The goal is to help at-risk young mothers postpone or prevent a second pregnancy. Of 169 clients who participated in the program from 1990 to 1996, only seven have gotten pregnant again.

The goal of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is to reduce the teenage pregnancy rate by one-third by the year 2002.

Although approximately 2,800 teenage girls in the U.S. become pregnant each day, and 175,000 adolescents less than 18 years old give birth each year, programs such as A-PLUS indicate that the goal is not impossible. However, success will depend on multiply, simultaneous efforts and serious commitment.

The teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is more than twice as high as that in any other advanced country and almost ten times as high as the rate in Japan and the Netherlands. Of the adolescents in the U.S. who give birth, more than 80 percent of the young mothers are unmarried.

Out-of-wedlock births, when combined with adolescent pregnancy, create a serious national problem. Approximately 60 percent of out-of-wedlock births are repeats.

Significantly, more than 80 percent in this age group also end up dependent on welfare for a number of years and likely to become pregnant again.

The consequences for such early births affect us all, but are particularly challenging for the young mothers. They usually have decreased educational opportunity and lower earning capability. Only 38 percent of pregnant teens complete high school and 37 percent drop out of school after becoming pregnant.

Adolescent fathers, too, are less likely to graduate from high school and have lower earnings, resulting in less money available to help support their children.

The children of teen parents also suffer long-term consequences. Studies have shown that they have lower test scores and more difficulty in school and are in poorer health, yet receive less health care. Studies also show they have higher rates of incarceration and adolescent childbirth.

There is more.

These are consequences for us all. Nationally, when all the factors contributing to loss of productivity and the range of social problems related to adolescent childbearing are considered, the annual cost to society is estimated to be $29 billion (about $166,000 per birth).

This figure includes welfare and food stamps; medical care costs; incarceration; increased foster care; and decreased tax revenues from employment effects.

Based on the 2,829 births in Arkansas to teens younger than 18 in 1995, the taxpayer tab was more than $469 million dollars when the preceding factors were considered.

One of the underlying causes of this epidemic is that sexual activity is beginning at younger ages. This is attributed to lower socioeconomic status; the lack of stimulating programs and opportunities; and personal values that permit sexual activity. Sexual abuse is also a factor.

Although this problem is complex and serious, it is not hopeless. Several model programs such as A-PLUS are contributing to the reduction of adolescent and out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

The problems are multi-faceted and, therefore, not likely to be solved by any one particular method or approach. Strategies will vary from community to community.

The Governor and the Public Health and Welfare Committee of both the House and the Senate led the charge during the recent session, and the Legislature agree to fund additional unwed and Arkansas teen pregnancy prevention programs. The community-based programs will be administered by the Health Department, but led by community steering committees.

For more information on adolescent pregnancy prevention programs, contact Jewelyn Sims, Adolescent Health coordinator of the Arkansas Department of Health at 501-661-2724.