Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406070053
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KAY C. JAMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We've all heard enough well-intentioned words and watched all too many ``pilot programs'' wither away. That's why Gov. George Allen has charged the Commission on Citizen Empowerment with crafting a comprehensive, statewide, implementation plan of action to deal with the many social problems plaguing Virginia's communities.
Why is teen-age pregnancy prevention a primary focus of this effort? Because the impact of illegitimacy on Virginia and its citizens is absolutely harrowing. As you correctly noted in your editorial, the single-parent families of Virginia consume a substantial portion of total public assistance. But the true impact of this problem goes beyond budgetary considerations.
Children from single-parent families are far more likely than children in two-parent families to have emotional and behavioral problems, to drop out of school, to abuse drugs, and to eventually become teen-age parents themselves. If we don't attack this problem head-on, it will continue to attack us.
The governor's empowerment commission is turning words into deeds by preparing intermediate and long-range action steps that will fully engage every element of society: our families, churches, neighborhood associations, schools and businesses, as well as the governmental sector. Your editorial, while thoughtful in its focus on the fundamental problem of out-of-wedlock pregnancy, gave too much credit to the one principle that is most to blame for the perpetual failure of teen-pregnancy prevention initiatives: that the solution to the crisis of out-of-wedlock births lies solely in the domain of governmental action. The erosion of our basic cultural underpinning, the family, is at the root of the teen-pregnancy problem. Solving this problem isn't going to be accomplished by a government quick-fix.
For this reason, Gov. Allen's charge to the commission reaffirms strong two-parent families as a centerpiece of his action strategy, along with pro-active job creation, child care and educational opportunities. Tragically, President Clinton dealt a blow recently to the teen-pregnancy prevention efforts of states and communities when he removed funding for Title XX teen-abstinence programs from his 1995 federal budget proposals.
But Virginia won't be taking its cues from Washington. We invite the greater Roanoke community to join us in building upon effective community approaches. Commerce and Trade Secretary Robert Skunda and I met recently with Roanoke officials to plot steps to support the city's pending enterprise-zone application request. And the governor showed his particular concern for the active engagement of community residents by appointing two distinguished Roanoke citizens, Patricia Henry and Felicia White, to the newly formed empowerment commission.
In short, this isn't a ``what are we going to do?'' commission, but an action-oriented group of citizens from which the governor expects real and honest change. As chairperson for this commission, I can assure you that we will not be producing another study to gather dust in the archives in Richmond. We will be producing an action plan that will move Virginians from dependency to empowerment and the lifelong capacity to be self-sufficient.
Kay C. James is secretary of health and human resources in the Allen administration and chairperson for the governor's Commission on Citizen Empowerment in Richmond.
by CNB