Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 1, 1992 TAG: 9202010045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
TEEN MOTHER'S PROGRAM HAS NEW LEADER
The new director of the Teen Parent Support Program has a big job ahead of her.Each year in Montgomery County, an estimated 200 girls ages 12 to 19 become pregnant. Of this number, almost half choose to deliver and keep their babies. The county has about 350 teen families and the number is rising.
Local numbers mirror national figures, which have reached their highest points since the early 1970s, the National Center for Health Statistics reports.
Thea De Young, 22, who recently took over as director of Teen Parent Support, hopes to raise awareness about the program's benefits.
She said there is a misconception that the program advocates birth control and abortion. It does neither.
"We teach young women to put off parenthood until after their teen years," De Young said. "Our duty is to educate them about what the realities of teen parenthood are all about."
If a teen is pregnant and becomes a mother, the program is there for support, guidance and information.
"We are not promoting teen pregnancy," De Young said. "We just want the mothers to have a fulfilling family life."
A May graduate from Virginia Tech who holds a psychology degree, De Young is a former volunteer for RAFT, a community intervention program in which, she says, she received "a great deal of experience" working as a hot-line counselor and empathy trainer.
A Fairfax native, De Young came to New River Community Action in October 1991 as a community service worker for the Montgomery County Emergency Assistance program. Community Action also oversees the Teen Parent Support program.
The Teen Parent Support program, which is funded by United Way, Community Action, local government and donations, matches volunteers with a new mother. Some of these volunteers are teens as well. They go to the mall, see a movie, go shopping or clean house.
The program's primary goals are to prevent pregnancies, increase self-sufficiency, prevent child abuse and neglect, and help family development.
A big part of the program is to help more pregnant teens and moms stay in school, said Mary Myers, who stepped down as head of the program in November to work as a family counselor with Montgomery County Courts.
Myers was the program's first coordinator when Community Action took it over after the New River Valley Community Services Board let its funding lapse in 1985.
"It gets harder and harder to be a teen parent," said Myers, who holds a master's of social work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. "It's worse if you can't finish your education."
Child care is a big part of that problem, and Myers suggests that additional care be made available in areas such as Auburn, Shawsville and Elliston.
It has been that type of tenacity that helped Myers turn Teen Parent Support into a success.
She increased teen participation, decreased teen apathy and worked to make the program "more empowering."
"We didn't just give them [the teens] support," Myers said. "They were involved."
And besides helping teen mothers increase their self-esteem, she also began the Teen Father Initiative steering committee.
Currently, that committee's future is unstable.
"We're trying to enhance that program, but we've come across some roadblocks," De Young said. "Without early contact [with teen fathers], intervention deteriorates."
Since the committee started last year, it has been difficult to round up interest from teen fathers, who usually do not tend to seek Myers help because of their egos, their lack of knowledge or their lack of interest in the family.
It is just another part of the overall teen pregnancy problem that De Young will work with in her position.
"It's a new year and I have high hopes for the future," she said this week. "I hope to take what is already a strong program and make it stronger."