
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 10, 1993                   TAG: 9308100149
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Medium

STUDY: CARROT, STICK NEEDED FOR TEEN PLAN

Teen-age mothers are more likely to stay in school or job training programs when threatened with a big cut in their welfare check, according to a study of an experimental program begun under President Reagan.

Clinton administration officials who released the study Monday said it shows that counseling and training can help adolescent mothers move from welfare dependency to self-sufficiency.

But many of the women involved, from tough, inner-city neighborhoods in Chicago and New Jersey, didn't improve their incomes substantially, and a majority became pregnant again, the study also found.

The study was conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by Mathematica Policy Research Inc. of Princeton, N.J., and tracked more than 5,000 recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children in Chicago, Camden and Newark, N.J., from late 1987 to mid-1991.

"The young mothers who participated in this study were first-time parents living in tough, inner-city neighborhoods with high unemployment rates, and many of them had dropped out of high school," noted HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. "But despite those obstacles, this study shows that effective case management and mandatory education and training can help AFDC recipients take that first, important step toward self-sufficiency," Shalala said.

Shalala released the report as President Clinton's welfare reform task force prepares to hold its first public meeting Wednesday in Chicago. The task force is scheduled to have a plan to overhaul the nation's welfare system ready for the president by late fall.

Half of the women tracked were selected at random to participate in the projects, while the other half continued to receive regular AFDC services and benefits.

by CNB