Huffstutter, P.J. (1995, July 23).  Pregnant teens given a chance to kick drugs. San Diego Union Tribune.

OVERVIEW

Jessica was fifteen, pregnant, and addicted to crystal methamphetamine when she was ordered to enroll in the Teen WATCh (Women and Their Children) program last year. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to Judy Taylor, her probation officer. Now she is afraid to leave.

Teen WATCh is a program with the San Diego County Probation Department that targets pregnant teen drug offenders. WATCh offers the girls two alternatives: abuse drugs and go to juvenile hall or stay clean, stay at home, and have a healthy baby. Since Teen WATCh started in April of 1994, 31 girls have given birth to 31 drug-free babies.

According to the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality, each drug-affected newborn costs taxpayers $400,000 in special medical and social services needed during its lifetime.

Before the WATCh program, the only place for pregnant drug-addicted teens was juvenile hall. Judy Taylor, a juvenile probation officer for six years before being transferred to the adult WATCh program, searches San Diego county for eligible girls. Candidates for the program must be a ward of the court, have a documented history of drug use and be 18 years old or younger. Once a girl is admitted to the Teen WATCh program, she is placed in a random drug testing sequence. In addition to continuing with her normal schoolwork, she must attend classes on parenting and nutrition. After each girl delivers, Taylor tracks each baby for one year to ensure that the child is immunized and healthy. The mother has access to classes on post-pregnancy needs and well-baby care. Taylor says that before the Teen WATCh program, ‘probation officers had to monitor the girls as best they could...there were no special classes, no way to test the teens on a regular basis.’

No one knows whether the girls’ drug recovery will be permanent. Taylor prefers to focus on the immediate successes of the girls. ‘These girls have accomplished a lot and I hope they all will stay clean. All I know is that these (infants) have started their lives as healthy babies,’ she says. The Probation Department is applying for federal funds so it can expand the program and hire additional officers.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What do you think about this program?
2. Do you think Teen WATCh will have long-term effects on the behavior of the teen mothers? What type of program would you suggest for monitoring the long-term progress of these mothers and their babies?

IMPLICATIONS

1. In order to reduce the number of drug-affected babies being born to adult and teenage mothers, society needs to intervene. Programs such as Teen WATCh that propose only two options—deliver a healthy baby or go to juvenile hall—are seeing considerable success.
2. Funding is needed to expand programs like Teen WATCh. Follow-up classes for young mothers are also important to maintain the message to stay of drugs and raise healthy babies.

Sheila Walsh cCYS