Planning Council Supports Teen Families

Did you know that…
• Despite recent declines, the teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is still much higher than the rates in all other industrialized countries?
• Each year about 750,000 U.S. adolescents age 15 – 19 become pregnant and more than 400,000 give birth?
• Teen childbearing costs this country an estimated $9.1 billion annually? Most of the costs are associated with negative consequences for the children of teen mothers such as the costs of health care, foster care and incarceration.

The Planning Council, in partnership with UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Initiatives and Research, is currently evaluating a program that aims to reduce the number of repeat teen pregnancies in Milwaukee. The program, called “Supporting Teen Families,” is run by Rosalie Manor Community and Family Services and serves over 100 pregnant and parenting Milwaukee teen mothers annually.

The evaluation is now entering its fifth and final year. Preliminary results have shown that program participants are:
• Learning positive nurturing parental behaviors;
• Improving their relationship with the fathers of the babies and with adult supporters;
• Achieving self-sufficiency goals;
• Learning job strategies;
• Understanding their babies’ developmental needs; and
• Using effective family planning techniques.

To view a poster with more data about Supporting Teen Families, visit our website at http:\\www.planningcouncil.org. To learn more about Supporting Teen Families or other services provided by Rosalie Manor Community and Family Services, visit their website at http://www.rosaliemanor.org.

Primary funding for the initiative is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Life, Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. Local support is currently provided by Windhover Foundation, Catholic Community Foundation, Park Bank, Kiwanis of Wauwatosa, Krause Family Foundation, Women’s Fund, St. William parish and an anonymous foundation donor.