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Workshop Objectives After today, you will be able to:

Teen Pregnancy Among Youth in Care

 Explain the need for a targeted approach to help youth in care avoid

a teen pregnancy.  Describe best practices and programs in the field that address teen

Sara Major Leonard Children’s Law Institute Conference Albuquerque, New Mexico January, 10th, 2013

pregnancy prevention among youth in care.  Brainstorm strategies you can use in your day-to-day work to help

youth in care avoid a teen pregnancy.  Identify resources on pregnancy prevention for youth and adults

who support youth in care. 2

Workshop Agenda

Who’s in the Room?

  Welcome and Overview   Snapshot on teen pregnancy in the US and New Mexico

  Name  

  Snapshot on Youth in Care   The Youth Voice

  How  long  have  you  been  working  with  youth  in  care?    

  Alicia’s Story: Foster Care Case Study Activity   Barriers & Solutions

  And  in  what  capacity?    OR  What  is  your  current  role?          

  What’s happening in the field?   Existing Resources   How Will You Respond?

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Icebreaker!

The National Campaign’s Mission   The  Campaign’s  mission  is  to  improve  the  well-­

being  of  children  and  families,  and  in   particular,  to  help  ensure  that  children  are   born  into  stable,  two-­‐parent  families  who  are   committed  to  and  ready  for  the  demanding   task  of  raising  the  next  generation    by   preventing  teen  pregnancy.  Our  speciEic   strategy  is  to  prevent  teen  pregnancy  and   unplanned  pregnancy  among  single,  young   adults. 5

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Foster Care Initiative Snapshot on the US and New Mexico

  Raise awareness and spark

action   Build partnerships   Offer technical assistance   Provide resources for parents, teens, and communities   Reach out to policymakers 7

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National Teen Birth Rates, 1940-2010*

How Does New Mexico Compare? Statistic Number of Births to Girls Age 15-19, 2009

New Mexico

United States

3,872

367,678

Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Ventura, S.J., Osterman, M.J.K., Kirmeyer, S., Wilson, E., & Matthews, T.J.(2012). Births: Final Data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports,61(1). Retrieved from http://http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_01.pdf [August 2012]

Statistic Teen Birth Rate Among Girls Age 15-19, 2010

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Sources: Ventura, S.J., Mathews, T.J, & Hamilton, B.E. (2001). Births to Teenagers in the United States: 1940-2000. NationalVital Statistics Reports, 49(10).; Hamilton, B.E., Martin, J.A., & Ventura, S.J. (2011). Preliminary Data for 2010. NationalVital Statistics Reports, 60 (2).

Teen Pregnancy Rate, Girls 15-19, 2005

New Mexico

United States

93

70

United States

53

34.2

Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Ventura, S.J., Osterman, M.J.K., Kirmeyer, S., Wilson, E., & Matthews, T.J.(2012). Births: Final Data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports,61(1). Retrieved from http://http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_01.pdf [August 2012] 10

How Does New Mexico Compare? Statistic

New Mexico

Costs and Consequences   Teen childbearing in the United States is associated with $2.8

billion in increased child welfare costs.

Kost, K., Henshaw, S., & Carlin, L. (2010). U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity. Retrieved January 2010, from .http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf Change in Teen Pregnancy Rates by Race/Ethnicity Statistic

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New Mexico

United  States

African Americans, 1992-2005

-39%

-44%

Hispanics, 1992-2005

-19%

-29%

Non-Hispanic Whites, 1992-2005

-66%

-54% 12

Source: http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/costs/pdf/counting-it-up/key-data.pdf

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Costs and Consequences: New Mexico   In 2008, taxpayer costs associated with children born to teen

Snapshot on Youth in Care

mothers was $8 million for child welfare.

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Source: http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/costs/pdf/counting-it-up/fact-sheetnew-mexico.pdf

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Why Focus on Youth in Care?

Why Focus on Youth in Care?

  400,540 youth in care in the United States

  Youth who transition out of care are more vulnerable to:

*New Mexico: In 2010, 1869 children and youth lived in out-of-home care.

  Becoming homeless.   Becoming victims of

  Approximately 33% are teens.

commercial sex trafficking.   Joblessness.   School incompletion.   Lack of financial and overall stability.

  Teens average length of stay in care is 4 years:

DOUBLE the average length of two years.   80% of youth who transition out of care enter at age 10 or older

50% are 15 and older. 1.  2.  15

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/afcarsreport19.pdf Casey Foundation. Data Snapshot on Foster Care Placement. http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Initiatives/KIDS%20COUNT/D/ DataSnapshotFosterCarePlcmnt/DataSnapshot_FinalWeb.pdf

  Unintended pregnancies including repeat pregnancies.

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The National Campaign. Why It Matters: Child Welfare. http:// www.thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters/pdf/ child_welfare.pdf

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Why Focus on Youth in Care?

Why Focus on Youth in Care?

  33% of girls in foster care became pregnant at least once by 17

compared to 13.5% of their peers. Making teen girls in foster care 2.5 times more likely to experience a pregnancy by age 19.

  Sexually active teens who age out of foster

care are less likely than youth still in foster care to report using condoms or birth control at all in the last year.

  Almost half of all teen girls in foster care who have been

pregnant experience a subsequent pregnancy by age 19 compared to less than one-third of girls not in foster care.

  Remaining in foster care until age 19 is associated with a 38

percent reduction in becoming pregnant compared to those youth who age out before 19.

  By age 21, over ½ of young women and nearly 1/3 of young

men in foster care have had at least one child.

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Source: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Fast Facts: Reproductive Health Outcomes of Youth Who Ever Lived in Foster Care http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/ FastFacts_FosterCare_Reproductive_Outcomes.pdf

Source: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Why It Matters: Teen Pregnancy and Child Welfare http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters/pdf/child_welfare.pdf 18

Source: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Fast Facts: Reproductive Health Outcomes of Youth Who Ever Lived in Foster Care http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/ FastFacts_FosterCare_Reproductive_Outcomes.pdf

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Risk Factors • Histories of abuse and neglect. • Not knowing the difference between a healthy vs. unhealthy relationship. • Wanting someone to love. • Not having a trusting adult in their life. • Multiple placements. • Breaks in their education. • Susceptible to becoming victims of CSEC.

What are the risk factors?

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The Youth Voice “I am in DCFS because someone else made a mistake in parenting me. I didn’t put myself in foster care…

The Youth Voice

Treat me as a human, and give me that chance. If I fail, then help me, but help me to succeed. Don’t automatically assume that just because our parents or someone else who was guiding [us] failed, [that we’re] going [to go] out and do the same thing.” -youth in foster care 23

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Listening to the Youth Voice How do they feel? • Feel singled out as the “bad kids”.

Listening to the Youth Voice What do they say? • Sex education they receive is “too little, too late.” • Want mentors who were formerly in foster care and/or can relate to them.

• Feel judged the second they enter a clinic or pregnancy prevention class.

• Having goals and dreams as a youth in care is not realistic. NO HOPE • Self-sabotaging your own relationships is common.

• Feel mistrust for foster parents and adults in general.

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“Leave them before they leave you.” 26

What puts them at risk?

What do they say?

  Lack of identity while in foster care.

  “We live with adults who don’t understand where we are coming

from.”

•  Growing up with inconsistent direction or guidance. •  Lack of positive role models.

  “We deal with staff members who don’t seem to care.”

•  Lack of communication with caring and trusted adults about sexuality.

  “I need to have this conversation [about sex] with a person who is

•  Lack of opportunity to experience “normal” and “healthy” teen

not going to be jumping down my throat all the time.”

relationships.

  “My mom really didn’t promote birth control because she was

•  Exposure to many different types of placements.

really saying don’t have sex at all. So we really didn’t hear much about birth control.”

•  Wanting someone to love and someone who loves them.

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*Preliminary study by GCAPP

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What they say about teen parenting… “It’s like when you’re down and out and when you want to give up on life,

Alicia’s Story: Foster Care Case Study Activity

you look at yourself, you look at the kid; you’ve got somebody else you’re living for now.” -teen mother in foster care 29

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Alicia’s Story “When I was seven, my younger sister Kayla and I were sent to live with a friend of the family. Our mother was a drug addict and she couldn’t take care of us anymore. On the outside, Kayla and I looked healthy and happy. But behind closed doors, my foster mother, Mary, would physically, mentally, and verbally abuse us. Because I felt like no one loved me or wanted me, I became extremely attached to the first boy who showed me any attention. I would have done anything to keep him, which is why I lost my virginity to him when I was only 14. I didn’t want to have sex (actually I found it disgusting) but I figured he expected me to, so I just did it. I had a prescription for the birth control pill, but I hardly ever took them. Girls like me didn’t get pregnant. I was one of the top students in my high school. Having a baby wasn’t in my plan, until I found out that I was pregnant. I was only 15. I was in denial throughout most of my pregnancy. Even though I went to the doctor for regular check-ups, I refused to acknowledge that I was going to have a child. I was on my way to a hair appointment when I went into labor, and I was more concerned with missing my appointment than with going to the hospital. It wasn’t until I held my son, Kevin in my arms for the first time, that I realized I was a mom.” 31

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Guiding Questions   How does Alicia’s story fit within your current work? Does

Barriers & Solutions

this story sound familiar to you?   What kinds of supports and services could have helped Alicia

avoid a teen pregnancy?   What are some of the factors in Alicia’s story that might have

affected her decision to have unprotected sex?   How could the various adults in her life have helped Alicia?

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Barriers & Solutions What’s happening in the field?

1.  What are some of the potential barriers you face in your line of work to helping youth protect themselves from unintended pregnancies? 2.  What are barriers the youth face? 3.  What are some action steps you can take as an individual in your line of work to help? 4.  What are some collective action steps that could be taken with other agencies to help? 35

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Making Proud Choices! For Youth In Out-of-Home Care

Making Proud Choices! For Youth In Out-of-Home Care

  Partnership with the American Public

  Five teams of state and local agencies selected to implement

Human Services Association with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

program.   Alameda County, California   North Carolina   Rhode Island

  Goals:

  Hawaii

1.  Adapt an evidence-based curriculum for

  Minnesota

youth in care. 2.  Embed curriculum into existing IL and TP programs to educate youth and support their efforts to prevent early pregnancy. 37

  Approximately 500 youth will go through the program by

June 2013

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Making Proud Choices! For Youth In Out-of-Home Care Adaptations include:  Message incorporated throughout the curriculum: Youth can make proud and responsible choices in spite of what has happened to them in the past.  More information on healthy relationships  Sensitivity to different types of placements  Sensitivity to previous trauma  Increased focus on pregnancy prevention and contraception  New role-plays

“When You Decide…” A Judge’s Guide to Pregnancy Prevention Among Foster Youth   Partnership with the National Council of

Juvenile and Family Court Judges   Survey findings: NCJFCJ members agreed

that preventing teen and unplanned pregnancy is important issue in jurisdiction   Development of Technical Assistance

Bulletin   Pilots occurring in model courts in Miami

and Los Angeles. 39

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Federal Funding

Power Through Choices!

  FY 2010: TWO dedicated federal

  Promising sexuality education program for youth in care.

funding streams for preventing teen pregnancy focused on evidence-based approaches:

  Undergoing rigorous evaluation with support of a PREIS

  Currently NOT evidence-based.

grant from OAH to the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.   Randomized control trials occurring in group homes with youth ages 13-18 in three states: Maryland, Oklahoma, and California.

  $105 million for the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) Teen

Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP)—competitive funding for a variety of evidence-based programs, and   $75 million for Personal Responsibility Education Program

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(PREP)—mainly formula funding for evidence-based programs that discuss abstinence and contraception, as well as adulthood preparation.

Resources

  HOPE: By end of the project, there will be an evidence-

based curriculum specifically for youth in care. 42

National Campaign Products Research and Reports   Fostering Hope: Preventing Teen Pregnancy Among Youth in Foster Care   Critical Judgment: How Juvenile and Family Court Judges Can Help Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy   Preventing Teen Pregnancy Through Outreach and Engagement: Tips for Working With Youth in Foster Care and Juvenile Justice   Briefly: Effective Planning for Child Welfare Leaders to Help Prevent Teen Pregnancy   Briefly - It’s Your Responsibility to Talk to Youth: Pregnancy Prevention for Youth in Foster Care   Why It Matters: Teen Pregnancy and Child Welfare

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National Campaign Products

How will you support them?

Brochures •  It’s Your Call •  Ten Tips for Foster Parents to Help Their Foster Youth Avoid Teen Pregnancy •  Our Story, Our Words: Youth Speak Out on Sex, Love, and Teen Pregnancy Media •  A Crucial Connection: DVD & Discussion Guide 45

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“Give us a voice. And even if you don’t give us a voice, advocate for us!”

Thank you! For more information, please contact: Sara Major Leonard [email protected] and visit the website: http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/fostercare/ default.aspx

-youth in foster care 47

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