Teenage Pregnancy Prevention

Incarcerated Young Men Learn How To Prevent Teen Pregnancies

ost teen pregnancy prevention programs are geared toward girls and include education, information and sexual health services. A glaring gap, however, is the lack of information about how young men could and should participate in pregnancy prevention efforts. If males are included at all, the approach is often punitive, as in the case of statutory rape laws.

One organization trying to make a difference in the lives of young men is Match-Two Inc. Since 1999, Match-Two has been helping incarcerated youth make healthy transitions back into their communities through its Pre-Release Enrichment Program (PREP). The program’s goals are to reduce the rate of recidivism, promote better parenting and prevent additional teen pregnancy.

“Too often, the idea you run up against is that teenage girls who get pregnant are the victims and the men involved are the perpetrators,” said Match-Two’s Program Administrator Bob Havens. “Even within the helping professions that idea is persistent, so the incentive to have programs for young men isn’t there. But the boys are affected by becoming fathers too, and having negative attitudes toward them doesn’t help solve anything.”

California’s Youth Authority estimates that 22 percent of approximately 7,545 wards in the system are fathers and therefore likely to father additional children with teenage girls in the future. Match-Two received a two-year, $100,000 grant from TCWF to provide mentoring services and pregnancy prevention programs for young men—many of them fathers—at the Herman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino.

To prevent teen pregnancy, Havens said, a young father not only needs to use contraception, but also needs to take responsibility for the family he has already started. While the program teaches youth to be more active parents, it also teaches them to become better partners and “family men” by exposing them to a broad range of skills and community resources that will help them keep their families together.

PREP includes a six-week course ranging from two to three hours per week. Group workshops cover a wide range of topics including decision-making, male accountability, anger management, reproductive health, understanding sexual health issues, partner communication and community resources.

Match-Two also enlists the help of mentors who provide guidance and transitional support to the detainees. To date, PREP has provided mentoring services and pre-release classes on pregnancy prevention to 81 incarcerated youth.

“While research tells us that young men in the criminal justice system are at high risk of causing teen pregnancy, few programs provide services for them in a positive, constructive way,” said TCWF Senior Program Officer Pauline Daniels. “Match-Two’s program seeks to fill the void by providing mentoring services in a way that respects the young men and makes them part of the solution.”

For more information about Match-Two, visit www.match2.org

Winter 2000/2001

INSIDE:

Cover Story

Promotoras warn of air toxins

Pooled fund for school clinics

Male-focused teen pregnancy prevention

2000 California Peace Prize awardees

Health insurance for low-wage workers

Policy center aids advocates

Grants Program

Grants listing