Biology being what it is, some number of teens are going to be sexually active. Always have, always will. And despite the best efforts of parents, schools, and government programs, some of that sexual activity is going to produce children.
One unfortunate result is that many young moms – and dads – will drop out of school.
Unskilled, undereducated teenaged parents have every strike in the book against them, and it’s a recipe for poverty that can continue for generations.
It doesn’t have to be that way. That’s the thinking behind a $6 million federal grant just awarded to the state, with a goal of “connecting expectant and parenting teens, women, fathers, and their families with health, education, and social services,” according to an announcement by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
The grant partners, including OSPI and several other state agencies and non-governmental organizations, will focus their efforts in Yakima, Grant, Franklin and Adams counties. Those four counties report some of Washington’s highest teen-pregnancy and teen-birth rates, along with below-average on-time graduation figures.
Rep. Kristine Lytton, a longtime school director and current member of the House Education Committee, applauded the news. “This is positive on so many levels,” she said. “The more we can do to help these kids get that high-school diploma, the better off they, their children, and their communities will be. They’ll have better jobs in their future, they’ll at least have the option of higher education, and their chances of success in life will increase significantly. I’ll be following the results in these four counties closely.”
The program begins this year and continues through 2017.