Creating a Social Program

Creating a Social Program

Introduction

Things have changed drastically in the past ten years so. However, the things that have still remained the same are some of the issues that have not only further spread but effective measures were never taken to deal with them. One of these issues is the increasing pregnancy rates in teens and the legal, financial and various other consequences that follows for the teen mothers. With inflation always on the rising, there are a number of issues and problems these pregnant teens or teen mothers in their daily lives (Furstenberg, 1998). Therefore, the social program will emphasize on the needs of these teenagers especially on their housing and accommodation needs.

Thesis Statement

There is a very huge population of homeless teenage pregnant females in the country that struggles to manage some of the basic facilities for themselves, most importantly housing. Therefore, the program aims to offer to provide shelter to these homeless pregnant single mothers. Moreover, the program also aims to cater the needs of low income families supporting such females.

Discussion

Proves and Statistics

Teenage birth rates in the United States, in the period1970s experienced a decline. However, since the 1980s these rates are getting higher than any developed Western European countries (Selman, 1998). The office of Juvenile Justice and delinquency prevention of Unites States Department of Justice in the year 2002 conducted a survey. They estimated that there exist approximately 1,682,900 runaway homeless youth below eighteen years of age. Of these, females from 6% to 22% are estimated to be pregnant. The Department further estimated that there can be approximately 400,000 pregnant young women, homeless and mostly teens, in the country. On the other hand, these teenage pregnant females or single mothers are a challenge to support financially for all the low income families (www.healthyteennetwork.org).

The Need to Address the Problem

Although, the Housing Act of 1937 offers certain benefits to poor families and individuals, the procedures are long stretched with very insufficient outcome. Therefore, even if a teen or her household qualifies eligible for the necessary section 8 vouchers, there is no guarantee that they will receive assistance and moreover, find housing with the help of the program (Selman, 1998). Therefore, many teens with their families, if any, are forced to deal with their problems all alone.

Analysis

Causes and Consequences

Many Americans believe that these single young mothers are in fact the product of a system that encourages such irresponsible behavior by these teens. Moreover, many also believe that young females get pregnant in order to obtain benefits of housing and other finances by the state (Selman, 1998). Whatever the cause may be, a major chunk of youth that should be busy in getting education are instead out on the street barely managing the crisis for themselves and their unborn babies.

Ideologies and Values

The ideology of the members of this Social Program is that this neglected population of youth are not just American citizens but also the future of the ...