news-record.com

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Greensboro’s YWCA Teen Parent Mentor Program, and a special reunion is planned Sept. 19 at the YWCA.

Former staff, volunteers, participants and their families are invited to attend the celebration. Refreshments will be donated by local restaurants, and entertainment will be provided by the Rob Massengale Band. The event includes a moon walk, face painting and crafts and games for the children.

Susan Cupito, director of the TPMP program since 1989, said TPMP is a relationship-based program that empowers teen mothers to overcome adversity and establish a future orientation for themselves and their children.

“I believe what these teens will remember years from now are that there were people who cared and helped them during this challenging time in their lives,” Cupito said.

She also believes one of the reasons this program continues to be so successful is because of the bonds formed with other positive teen moms. In the program, they have other young women who understand their concerns and celebrate with them when their babies roll over or start to talk and walk.

TPMP also recognizes that teens learn and connect in ways that are different from adults so the program offers activities and programs that are fun and interesting to teens.

“Although the teens learn lots of information about childbirth, health, parenting and child development,” Cupito said, “sometimes education occurs during a swim class or dance session or at the Children’s Museum or the Natural Science Center.”

Members of the TPMP staff believe they have the best jobs in the world because they get to know and help new teen moms and expectant moms who want to learn to be the best moms they can be.They work with volunteers who spend many hours each day offering their support as mentors, children’s helpers and “doulas,” or people trained to offer support during labor, delivery and the post-partum period.

Staff and volunteers reach out to each mom and baby to be sure they are cared for, appreciated and loved.

About 1,500 pregnant and parenting teens of school age live in Guilford County in 2009, according to local birth data. That’s equivalent to approximately 60 classrooms of pregnant and parenting teens.

Poverty, interpersonal violence, reduced access to health care, lack of safe and secure housing, lack of basic need fulfillment and cultural barriers are all correlated with teen parenting in Greensboro, Cupito said. She said that without intervention, teen mothers often face a cumulative adversity.

National studies indicate that 1,200 of the current 1,500 teen moms in Guilford County will not complete high school before age 30, that less than 750 will ever complete high school and that less than 30 will earn college degrees.

“Pregnant and parenting teen moms in Greensboro are at risk for school dropout because it is challenging to face the responsibilities of being a student and a mom,” Cupito said. “They often face obstacles of discriminatory practices, inaccessible day care and transportation, and rigid attendance policies. Not completing high school puts the teens and their children at risk for many social and economic consequences.”

Signs of success for the program, Cupito said, are:

• Fewer than 2 percent of TPMP participants had another birth as a teen, compared with a 31 percent repeat teen birth rate in Guilford County.
• Fewer than 3 percent of the babies born to the moms in the Teens Learning Childbirth program were low birth weight, compared with a 13.6 percent rate for minority teens in Guilford County.
• 93 percent of Teen Parent Mentor Program teens were in school, compared with 30 percent of teen mothers nationally.

Stephanie Amoako, the AmeriCorps member of the TPMP program, said her placement with the Teen Parent Mentor Program has satisfied her desire to serve and learn from people in the community.

“I have learned so much about issues surrounding teen pregnancy, such as poverty, education, healthy homes and domestic violence,” she said. “Also, I have had a ton of fun with the teens and other moms that we work with.”

“I didn’t enter this position thinking I wanted to work with teen families,” Cupito said. “I had previously worked with children and adolescents who had been sexually and physically abused, and I had heard how they felt they had no power to make positive life choices.”

She also had worked with juvenile offenders and children with special needs and decided she wanted to help children be born and develop in healthy ways to avoid future challenges.

“Last year, if their moms had not participated with us, as many as 11 of the babies would have been born too soon or too little, which would have increased their risks for a lifetime,” Cupito said. “This saves the community $50,000 per baby in first-year medical costs, or about $550,000. Also, 140 of 200 teen moms would have dropped out of school compared with the 14 young women that we are trying to re-engage in school.”

Cupito is pleased that the YWCA Teen Parent Mentor Program has resulted in huge society savings from keeping teen moms in school and helping them to help their children stay in school.

Cupito and the TPMP staff welcome opportunities to speak to groups at no charge.

To suggest a person or organization who has or is making a difference in Guilford County, contact Peggy Longmire at rlongmire@triad.rr.com or 288-9040.