The historical context of teen pregnancy in the US and its evolution to the present embodiment of the predominantly urban "welfare mother" developed from specific socio-historical contexts that deemed early childbirth, especially illegitimate pregnancies, as morally and socially deviant. Two conceptual elements missing within the literature on…

Presents a broad overview of recent trends, programs, and ideas aimed at solving the problem of unintended adolescent pregnancy. Asserts that the general problem of teenage parenthood results from a lack of options available to poor youngsters who, often, are members of minority groups. (KH)

For generations American society and educational institutions have considered pregnant and parenting female students as throwaway students. They have been given little consideration or encouragement to stay in school. At times they were not even allowed to attend school. With 80% of teenage mothers never finishing high school, it is vital to look…

The Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Project (TAPP) of San Francisco is a city-wide interagency service system coordinated by the city's Family Service Agency and Unified School District. Clients participate in pre- or post-natal service systems that provide free, personal, and continuous counseling for up to three years. Case managers identify and…

In the United States about one million teenagers become pregnant each year and, of these, almost one-half will give birth and become mothers. Maternal factors that have been linked with better overall outcomes for adolescent mothers include social and family support, completion of high school, and limiting subsequent childbearing during…

The Family Support Act of 1988 presented states with a unique opportunity to address the needs of pregnant and parenting teens. The Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Public Welfare have seized this opportunity and are leading the nation in combining their programmatic and fiscal resources to expand the state's teen parent initiative. The…

This report presents ethnographic case studies of the life circumstances and experiences of 18 low-income adolescents who participated in Project Redirection, a national program which provides educational and family planning services at the local level to pregnant teens and mothers. Information on the teens' family background, patterns of…

The Mott Foundation has been involved with the issue of teenage pregnancy for 15 years, and has supported a network of programs with the main objective of finding new ways to deal with the negative consequences of teenage pregnancy. This report, which reflects the Foundation's perspective, is divided into six sections. The first provides an…

Each year, half a million teenagers become mothers in the United States. School-based child care programs are a positive way for educational institutions to encourage young mothers to return to or stay in school, prepare for employment, and acquire accurate information about child development and appropriate parenting practices. This handbook was…

This paper reports on a study of teenage sexual activity and pregnancy in Utah, conducted to understand ways of dealing with the State's rising adolescent fertility rate. The paper identifies social and cultural characteristics which distinguish sexually active youth from their abstinent peers. Related research is reviewed and methodology is…

Project REAL was designed to address Goal 1 of the Educate America Act. Four major components were: (1) the identification of pregnant and/or parenting teens; (2) the enrollment of those identified into parental services, life skills and parenting classes; (3) weekly visits in the home to provide assistance with developmentally appropriate needs…

The Program for Pregnant and Parenting Services (PPPF) assists children in the New York City public school system who also happen to be parents. In 1993 the program received a federal child care and development block grant which was used to augment the child development, child care, and case management services provided to their student clientele.…

This report provides information on the longitudinal evaluation of the Brighter Futures program in Florida, a teen pregnancy prevention program which created support groups for mothers age 16 and younger in order to prevent their having second pregnancies. Other program goals were to ensure that the girls finish high school and plan for a career,…

For an ethnographic study of the personal and educational needs of Hispanic and Anglo adolescent mothers and the services affecting their decision to remain in school, researchers interviewed eight teenage mothers--four in a special high school teen parents' program and four who had dropped out of the program. Two young women in each group were…

Pregnant and parenting adolescents represent a unique and challenging problem for educational systems. Of the 17,051 women who become pregnant every day in America, 2,795 or 16% of them are adolescents. The self-esteem and locus of control of 85 pregnant and parenting teens enrolled in the Ohio Graduation, Reality, Dual Role Skills (GRADS) Program…