Teen pregnancy group: State funds needed in Lynn

LYNN – If state funds don’t arrive soon, about 300 Massachusetts teenage girls with babies won’t be going back to school in September.According to Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, the lack of funds can only be remedied by Gov. Deval Patrick who currently is determining whether the organization is eligible to receive state education grant monies.”Lynn has the ninth highest rate of teenage girls giving birth in Massachusetts,” said Liz Ubro, an alliance staffer.For 2008, the most recent data available, 53 out of every 1,000 girls in Lynn between the ages of 15 and 19 had babies.”Teen parenting is the leading reason that 26 percent of students drop out of high school and the primary cause of dropout among girls,” said Quinn.Quinn noted that state cuts to the fiscal 2011 budget translated to less money for Young Parent Alternative Education Programs (YPP) like those run in Lynn by Catholic Charities. “Cuts to YPP mean over 300 ready and willing pregnant and parenting teens will not be going back to school this year unless the governor takes action,” she said.The alliance has urged the governor to restore YPP funds.”It is a key strategy to address our dropout crisis,” Quinn said.Quinn said restoring YPP “goes to the core of Gov. Patrick’s priority to reduce dropout by 50 percent over the next five years.””The YPP in Lynn is an indication of the level of need and demand,” said Umbro. “Catholic Charities serves tens of teen parents in Lynn, both young women and young men.”As for the funding, Umbro said, “The governor has made no announcement about where the money will be spent. Education dollars must be used to create and retain new jobs for teachers, but even if those funds can’t be used for a YPP, there is other Medicaid funding we will be advocating for.”