Richard A. Weatherley

Comprehensive programs for pregnant teenagers and teenage parents: how successful have they been?

A number of recent studies have raised questions about the effectiveness of comprehensive service programs designed to respond to the problem of teenage pregnancy and childbearing in the US. All the programs studied fell short in some respects of the ideal represented by the comprehensive model. Even the very best were limited in geographic coverage, numbers served, scope, duration and intensity of services offered. Nonetheless, there were notable differences between those programs that met the criteria of comprehensiveness and those that failed to do so. The more resource-rich, better-served communities are the most likely to be able to overcome the constraints and to develop comprehensive programs. State policies, backed with program funds, were found to be a crucial determinant of program development. However, they tend to be awarded to localities that in some ways need them the least. The current federal legislation erroneously assumes that dissemination of various comprehensive program models will bring about their local adoption, even without government assistance. Federal incentive grants to states, based on some measure of need and capacity, could spur the development of programs in regions of the country that are otherwise unlikely to be able to afford them. School-based program models have considerable appeal. However, this evaluation revealed the significant obstacles such programs face. An alternative approach would have to start with improved health and welfare services similar to those found in most other advanced, industrial nations. Comprehensive programs, despite their many virtues, are not the magic bullets that will solve the problems associated with unintended teenage pregnancy and parenthood. The empirical evidence of the past 15 years suggests that there is no single solution to the problems associated with adolescent sexuality, pregnancy and parenthood. While family planning and abortion services have proven significant in limiting adolescent pregnancies and births, a more informed policy approach would seek to provide a broader range of services.

Managing the Politics of Decline: School Closures in Seattle.

On February 11, 1981, the Seattle School Board voted to close 18 of the districts 112 schools, 14 of them by June 1981. Since 1962, Seattle schools had lost more than half their children. This action by the board culminated years of debate over how the district should respond to declining enrollments, rising costs, and growing constraints on its financial base. The debate was carried on in the midst of tensions created by unmet public expectations for the schools, significant changes in student population, continuing uncertainty about school funding, and the divisive effects of a massive desegregation program. Seattle is not alone in struggling with retrenchment. Although the problem is national in scope, there are few guides documenting the experience of districts facing the practical problems involved in managing a declining public system. Closing schools is one response to cut back, but few decisions stir so much adverse public reaction. In making closure decisions, school districts must consider impacts on various city government activities, housing and desegregation patterns, and the vitality of local school neighborhoods. The process of decisionmaking is complex when, as is the case in most localities, city and school district are separate jurisdictions. Intergovernmental relations can become strained and destructive when the decisions of one jurisdiction affect the actions of another. The management issues involved in school

Comprehensive services for pregnant and parenting adolescents: Historical and political considerations

Abstract Federal policy has promoted the development of local comprehensive care programs as a response to adolescent childbearing. This article traces the origin of comprehensive services and assesses both their effectiveness and feasibility as public policy. Evaluations suggest that they do benefit some participants. The aggregate effects are modest, however, and may not become evident until years, or even decades after participation. Due to the implementation constraints, few localities can develop and sustain programs without substantial outside funding, which is currently unavailable.

National Problems, Local Solutions

This study identifies a number of factors associated with the successful development and maintenance of local comprehensive adolescent pregnancy programs in the US. The comprehensive programs were located in communities with relatively well-developed social welfare infrastructures. They received basic state support and were able to tap a wide variety of federal, state, and local resources. These comprehensive programs were managed by skillful administrators and drew upon a broad range of leadership talents. Only a minority of exceptional communities possess the essential prerequisites. Within states, grant mechanisms favor those few localities that can put together the winning proposal or that have the organizational capacity to draw on a variety of funding sources. They are not always the communities with the greatest need. Within communities, even the most comprehensive programs served only a small proportion of the potential clientele. They reflected a brief crisis intervention orientation to a problem that is complex and long-lasting in its origin and consequences. National evaluations and comprehensive programs have found that their benefits are limited and short-lived. The study further demonstrates the political vulnerability of local services for stigmatized and powerless groups in the absence of a strong national mandate. Service providers kept a low profile to avoid the attention of potential opponents. A national strategy based on the sponsorship of a limited number of demonstration projects and the dissemination of information about exceptional, exemplary programs is unlikely to accomplish very much. The evidence suggests that the lack of a national policy commitment to pregnancy prevention contributes to the high rate of adolescent pregnancies.