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Introduction “For individuals, pregnancy initiates marked physical, emotional, and socialization shifts. At a social level, pregnancy and parenthood have fundamental implications for families, communities, and society. These life-changing events have far reached implications, particularly for adolescents. Relative to adults, the implications for adolescents magnify due to limitations in economic resources, life experiences, educational background, employment opportunities, and interpersonal skills” (Benson, 2016). Programs and preventions have been successful in preventing and treating teen pregnancy and research shows that teen pregnancy has decreased throughout the years due to these programs and preventions. Throughout this paper the following topics will be discussed. Nature of the problem such as the prevalence of teen parenting. Cause of the problem such as the risks associated with teen pregnancy and lastly interventions. Interventions and programs that can be utilized to serve teen parents and provide a safe and positive outcome for the teen parents and baby. Nature Of the Problem According to the CDC the US teen birth rates has been declining since 1991. Teen birth rates continued to decline from 17.4 per 1,000 females in 2018 to 16.7 per 1,000 females in 2019. This is another decrease from 2018, about 4%. Birth rates fell 7% for females aged 15 to 17 years and 4% for females aged 18 to 19 years. The US teen birth rate is still substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations and racial/ethnic and geographic gaps in teen birth rates persist (CDC, 2021). The CDC reports that the reasons for the declines are not totally clear, they believe that these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity and more teens who are sexually active and using more forms of contraceptives than in previous years.

Parenting is difficult as an adult let alone as a teenager. As a teen parent there are many consequences at different multiple levels. From the national perspective, adolescent childbearing in the US is estimated to cost taxpayers almost $11 billion each year. The average annual taxpayer cost associated with a child born to an adolescent mother is estimated to be $1647. These costs are mostly associated with negative consequences for the children of adolescent parents, such as the expense of foster care and more than usual health care. From the social and educational level research shows that nearly half of all adolescent mothers do not earn a high school diploma and roughly a third never obtain their GED. Adolescent mothers are more prone to depend on various forms of public assistance for about one third of their parenting years (Lachance et al., 2016). Lastly, research has noted that adolescent mothers continue to lead high- risk lifestyles after the birth of their child and are at risk of a second pregnancy within 24 months. Adolescent fathers also face educational and economic consequences throughout their life. Causes Of the Problem The cause of this issue can be determined by many reasons and by many different people such as, lack of contraceptives, uneducated about sex, no structure or supervision by parents, to name a few. Different women experience different effects and risks. Research shares that teen mothers experience emotional and mental health problems, but it depends if whether the pregnancy was intended or wanted compared to teen mothers who have accidental pregnancies. Another risk is the social location after the child is born. Teen parents lack supports from family and friends after having a baby. For example, if a teen mother is kicked out of her home due to getting pregnant, she is most likely going to be living in an unstable environment. Research explains that teen women are more vulnerable to poverty, violence such as domestic abuse and

sexual assault. Teen parents are more likely to not have a formal education after giving birth such as high school diploma or GED. Research stated that teen parents are more likely to have children to more than one partner which increases these risks even more (Lachance et al., 2016). Interventions Throughout the research regarding teen parenting there were many positive interventions and programs but there were also controversial interventions I found. Research reported that many services for teen pregnancy encourages adoption, so the child and mother have a better chance of success throughout their life. Studies show that only 1-2% of teens chose the adoption route. Another controversial intervention research reported on was, abortion. “Prior research indicates that most teenagers initially arrive at the decision to seek an abortion even before confiding in a single other person. Most adolescents also confide in someone, usually an adult, prior to seeking an abortion. Teens seeking abortion in the US states without mandatory parental notification, 75% had consulted an adult before seeking the abortion. Research states that social workers usually do not get involved with a teen until after the abortion, which causes frustrations among social workers due to them needed prior to pregnancy to prevent a situation like abortion” (Benson, 2016). More positive interventions and programs for teen pregnancy include, developmentally driven, emotion focused and evidence-based parenting interventions. These interventions are educational parenting curricula, case management, home visitation, and clinic- based approaches. Research suggests that these strategies should not be implemented alone but as a team for the best support for the teen. Programs and interventions that appear to have the best results for teen pregnancy are, being educated on sex education, being able to obtain different forms of birth control and contraceptives. Planned parenthood offer these services and teens can obtain services through them without their parents or guardians’ knowledge. A program

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