News
By Christine Buurma
|
October 11, 1999
Nearly every day a girl between the ages of 10 and 19 in Charlottesville and Albermarle County gets pregnant, according to the local Council on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.
In response to such statistics, the Task Force on Teen Pregnancy Prevention issued a report Friday recommending cost-effective, preventative programs for families, churches, schools, businesses, service groups and health care professionals.
The task force was created two years ago as the result of a Charlottesville-Albermarle County town meeting entitled "Partners in Teen Pregnancy and STD Prevention."
The task force includes six University faculty members, and other professionals from a wide range of community groups in the area.
The task force also is addressing a compilation of studies that show teenage mothers are more likely to have complications with childbirth, depend on public welfare, never complete high school, have fewer employment skills and raise a family in poverty.
One of the task force's primary recommendations is to expand existing programs that have proved effective in preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Although there are some effective programs out there, they are not being used enough, said Jack Marshall, task force chairman and a retired international consultant on family planning.