Wee Care: reaching teenage mothers and changing their lives - outreach program offered by Jewish Family and Children's Service of Philadelphia

Children Today, May-June, 1989 by Priscilla R. Rosenwald, Gwen Porter

We agree with the Furstenberg report, which states: "The problem of teenage parenthood cannot be solved by simply directing services exclusively to females ... Indeed, our failure to address the marginal position of males in disadvantaged communities may contribute to the perpetuation of teenage parenting."(3)

Did Wee Care succeed? Only time will tell. What percentage of our clients will limit their family size until they complete their educations, get started on careers, and maintain stable relationships? How many will be pregnant again next year? What difference did we make?

We have planted a seed, provided information, shown them, by example, that a teenage pregnancy need not mean the end of one's own dreams and aspirations. At the same time, we recognize that most of the adolescent women who came to Wee Care have been deprived emotionally and physically all their lives, as have their mothers and grandmothers before them.

We believe we made a difference. It is, however, only a beginning. Continued program development, backed by funding for such programs, must be a priority if our society is truly committed to permanent change.

(1)F. Furstenberg, J. Brooks-Gunn and S. Philip Morgan, Adolescent Mothers in Later Life, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1987. (2)For a description of Project PRIDE, see "Operating A Primary Prevention Program: A Blueprint for Survival" by Priscilla R. Rosenwald, CHILDREN TODAY, Jul.-Aug. 1985. (3)Furstenberg, op. cit.

Patricia R. Rosenwald is the Director of Project PRIDE, Jewish Family and Children's Service, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gwen Porter is Director of Student Substance Abuse Programs, School District of Philadelphia.