Section 124175 Of Article 1. California Adolescent Family Life Act Of 1988 From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 106. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.
124175
. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(a) Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood is a problem with
significant social, medical, educational, and economic consequences
to the teen parent and child, her family, and the State of
California.
(b) In an attempt to address the problems of pregnant and
parenting adolescents, the Governor, in 1985, created the Adolescent
Family Life Demonstration Program, that was designed to bring
pregnant and parenting teenagers into programs that provide services
of demonstrated cost benefit and effectiveness by organizing networks
of local agencies focused on providing services to adolescents and
ensuring the most timely and effective utilization of services.
(c) Independent evaluations indicate that the program has been
successful and effective in achieving its intended goals of providing
pregnant adolescents with prenatal care, reducing the incidence of
low birthweight babies born to adolescent mothers, keeping or
reenrolling pregnant and parenting adolescents in school, and
reducing the rate of repeat teen pregnancies.