Research Proposal on "How a Public Administration Non-Profit Agencies in Georgia Can Help Reduce Teen Pregnancy"

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According to the Georgia Department of Human Resources "in the past ten years, the birth rate among girls in Georgia 15-19 years old declined 25%" (Georgia, 2005), which is the good news. The bad news is that in 2004 "80% of teens that gave birth were not married, as compared to 75% in 1994 and 51% during the 1980's" (Georgia, 2005). Non-married teenagers who give birth experience increased incidences of child abuse, neglect and more often cost the government additional dollars in child and health care. Not only are there increased expenses for those teenagers who give birth, but the rate of teenage pregnancies and births in the United States still leads the world.

One recent report presented the finding that, "(despite) a 33% decline in the teen (girls age 15-19) birth rate between 1991 and 2004, the United States still has the highest teen pregnancy and birth rates in the industrialized world" (Hoffman, 2006, p. 1).

An additional report shows that "3 in 10 girls in this country become pregnant by age twenty" (National, 2006, fact sheet), that leads to over 750,000 births each year.

The social costs of these births are both monetary and costly in nature. State funds are used to pay for such services as; prenatal care, delivery, premature births, child abuse, and day, health and foster care. "Medicaid covered the costs of prenatal care and delivery for 84% of teens giving birth in Georgia in 2002" (Georgia, 2005). The expenses are not only monetary in nature but also include the fact that babies born to teenage mothers are more than twice as likely to experience child abuse or neglect. The decline in the rate of teenage pregnancies and births during the period of 1991 to 2004 saved taxpayers direct and indirect costs of supporting those mothers and their offspring. Hoffman's report presented the finding that "due to the dramatic decline in the teen birth rate...taxpayers saved an estimated $6.7 billion in 2004 alone" (Hoffman, 2006).

One method of curbing such expenses as well as the effects of teenage pregnancy is by teaching teenagers the sensibility of abstinence from sexual intercourse and other sexual activities that can lead to intercourse. In 1997 the state of Georgia implemented a teenage pregnancy prevention initiative with the aim of preventing welfare dependency, improving economic opportunities and to promote responsible parenting. The initiative was the impetus behind the creation of the Office of Adolescent Health and Youth Development (AHYD).

According to a fact sheet produced by the Georgia Department of Human Resources, "AHYD offers a comprehensive program addressing a wide range of risk-taking behaviors (including) teen sexual activity before marriage" (Georgia, 2005). The fact sheet states that part of the comprehensive program offered by AHYD includes building on the strength or assets of the individual youth, their families and their individual communities and that the goal espoused by the AHYD is to help adolescents grow up "healthy, educated, connected to their families and communities, and employable" (Georgia, 2005).

This goal is one that serves not only the individuals involved but the government and the community as well. When a young citizen is taught that abstinence is the only sure way of not becoming pregnant, and that individual then goes on to lead a healthy, secure and productive life, then the goal has achieved a certain degree of success. The expense of an out-of-wedlock birth is not borne by the state, and infants born into a stable family environment experience less child abuse and dependency on the government teat.

It is therefore hypothesized that a program that focuses on teenage sexual activity abstinence will be a helpful long-term tool providing community, cost and individual benefits. The proposed study will be to see how effective a non-profit organization can be in continuing the downward trend, especially in light of the current economic woes currently being experienced by the United States.

The AHYD initiative is to reduce teenage pregnancies by 15% (from the 2004 birthrate of 53.3 births for every 1,000 girls) by the year 2010. This study will track the effectiveness of the program from 2004 forward to the year 2010.

The study will also compare teenage pregnancy (and other related) costs as a percentage of overall health care costs by the state of Georgia during that same time period. Further, the study will include costs from the year of creation (1998) as compared to the years from then until the end of the study period. The study will determine whether the downward trend in teenage pregnancies and births can be maintained by continuing the current educational process as it is being presented by the AHYD and other groups such as New Horizons Community Service Board. The proposed study will seek to ascertain whether these community groups and government agencies can work together to present informational programs to at-risk, and other teenagers in order to influence them to abstain from sexual activities until they are married.

The rationale for such a study is to discover whether such educational efforts will directly change teenage sexual behavior patterns while indirectly lowering the percentage of dollars needed to cover the costs resulting from those sexual activities. It is hoped that the study will provide further evidence that behaviors can be changed and that the results from those changes will be positive in nature.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The available literature on teenage pregnancies is not as prevalent as what one might think. A recent search for full text articles on an educational server found 14 available articles relating directly to the search. Keywords used were teenage pregnancies and teenage births. A total of 24 articles were presented for perusal. The scarcity of available articles does not belie the fact that the quality was quite evident and diverse.

Information on the decline of teenage pregnancy, the resulting cost savings, effects of various governmental programs on the teenage birth rate, demographic information and how teenage birth rates and pregnancies are affected by different factors were all available. Also available was the number of pregnancies that were terminated before birth.

Since many of these terminations were by abortion, the literature regarding those circumstances was also prevalent. Since the abortion act seems to have such an overwhelming affect on those who choose that route, it is interesting to discover that the abortion rate has been declining along with the teenage pregnancy rate during the last 10-15 years.

Of the many factors to consider regarding teenage birthrates and pregnancies one that seemed most prevalent is that teaching abstinence concerning sexual activities seemed to have a positive overall affect in lowering the rate of birthrates, child abuse and misuse and the overall expenditures made on behalf of those events by governmental agencies.

One expert wrote "Adolescents who aborted an unwanted pregnancy were more inclined than adolescents who delivered to seek psychological counseling and they reported more frequent problems sleeping and more frequent marijuana use" (Coleman, 2006, p. 904). If that statement is to be believed, then lowering the rate of teenage pregnancies would indirectly have a positive affect on the number of adolescents who need psychological counseling or who would be less inclined to use marijuana as an alleviation for any long-term guilt they may feel towards having an abortion.

The same study showed that, "adolescents who obtain abortions may be more likely to have certain personality traits or they may experience more strained relationships with their parents than adolescents… READ MORE