Gainesville under consideration for a home for young mothers

LAVONIA - &#34;A blessing in my life." <br> <br> This is how a teen - with a new baby - described her experience as a resident of one of Georgia's Second Chance Homes. The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (G-CAPP) invites you to see why at a series of "Open House" events at selected Second Chance Homes during June. <br> <br> An open house is planned at five of the eight homes in Georgia, including June 2 at the one in Lavonia, the only one in northeast Georgia. Lisa Panzer, program manager for the Lavonia facility, says G-CAPP has been discussing locating a Second Chance Home in Gainesville, but no decision has been made.<br> <br> Recalling her personal effort to help a teen parent, G-CAPP Founder and Chair Jane Fonda observed, "Before G-CAPP got involved, "second chances" for young girls who had a baby were virtually nonexistent. "In addition to poverty, many of these girls come from a background that is horrific and often marked by abuse.&#34;<br> <br> In 2001, Georgia pioneered Second Chance Home options for teen moms. G-CAPP was selected by the state's Department of Human Resources to develop and administer what is now a network of eight homes offering a therapeutic environment where young mothers can become productive adults and their babies a healthy start. <br> <br> Without a Second Chance Home placement, girls and their babies are placed with separate foster families or forced to choose between a dangerous environment and homelessness. In a Second Chance Home young mothers find self-management and parenting skill training, child care, counseling, medical attention as well as help in finishing their education, finding a job and permanent housing. Federal dollars, private contributions and collaborative local partnerships support the effort. <br> <br> Currently, the eight Second Chance Homes in Georgia can house some 44 girls and their babies at any one time. G-CAPP officials say of all 136 girls served to date, 100% stayed in school with an increasing number moving on to college following their Second Chance Home experience. Just one has had a repeat pregnancy. Rigorous program evaluation is conducted on an ongoing basis. <br> <br> They add the waiting list for Second Chance Homes outpaces placements by over 500%, and they say simple arithmetic is the reason.<br> <br> With some 16,581 babies born to adolescent moms in 2002, Georgia's rate of teen births is 7th highest in the nation. During the same year, 29% of those Georgia teens that had already given birth went on to have yet another pregnancy. Without help, most teen parents don't finish high school, marry or ever earn more than a poverty-level income. <br> <br> Annually, these officials say, Georgia taxpayers absorb more than $550 million in costs for welfare, health care, foster care and related services associated with adolescent mothers and their children.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/5/158376