ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ELIZABETH SIMPSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
VIRGINIA WILL RECEIVE a federal grant if it is one of five states to most reduce out-of-wedlock births.
Virginia officials are challenging communities to solve a problem they admit they have no idea how to fix: reducing the number of out-of-wedlock births.
While research shows the benefits of such a decrease are many - shorter welfare rolls, fewer Medicaid expenses, lower school dropout rates - the driving force behind this challenge is a sweet little bonus from the federal government:
A $20 million pot of gold.
As part of the welfare reform act, the federal government announced last year that $20 million grants will be awarded to the five states that most reduce their out-of-wedlock birth rates while not increasing the abortion rate.
Tuesday, state health and welfare officials announced just how they plan to accomplish this complicated feat, making Virginia the first state to unveil a formal plan.
The strategy goes something like this: Go to the communities and beg for help.
In the first of four regional meetings, state officials asked ministers, heads of nonprofit organizations and grassroots agencies, and government officials to go back to their communities to organize town meetings, educate the public, come up with a plan to reduce out-of-wedlock birth rates and mobilize the resources to follow through with it.
``When it comes to matters of the human heart we have to go closest to the heart, and you are closest to the heartbeat,'' said Scott Oostdyk, deputy secretary of Health and Human Resources for the state.
State officials reminded participants that the real reward comes in reducing the number of children growing up in single-parent homes, which has been linked to a variety of maladies such as greater reliance on welfare, higher dropout rates and greater likelihood of teen parenthood.
``If we can reduce unintended pregnancies, then we are all winners, whether we win the award or not,'' said Randolph Gordon, state commissioner of health.
If Virginia does win one of the grants, state officials said, up to $1 million will be ``passed through'' to the communities that demonstrate the greatest decreases.
The state percentage of out-of-wedlock births is 29.5 percent, which is slightly less than the national rate of 32 percent. In Roanoke, 42.3 percent of births were to unwed mothers in 1995, the most recent statistic available from the state Department of Health.
In Salem, the rate was 25.5 percent; in Roanoke County, 14.4 percent; in Franklin County, 26.4 percent; in Bedford, 37.3 percent; in Bedford County, 21.4 percent; and in Botetourt County, 20.1 percent.
Participants at Tuesday's meeting were gung-ho at the prospect of going for the gold, but for social rather than for monetary reasons. ``We must take this step from the perspective of survival,'' said Lorenzo Dyer, who heads the Fatherhood and Family Development Institute in Richmond. ``We know what the results will be if we don't accept the challenge.''
One expert in children's issues, Kristin Moore of Child Trends, reminded participants that they should not focus solely on teen-agers. Nationally, only three of 10 children born out of wedlock were born to teen-age mothers. The majority of out-of-wedlock children were born to women between 20 and 30 years of age.
And while a host of teen-age pregnancy prevention programs are in place across the nation, very few initiatives target births to unmarried parents who are beyond the teen years. ``We are in uncharted waters when pursuing that goal,'' she said.
While a goal in the teen population might be to prevent pregnancy, a goal for the older population might also include encouraging marriage, she said.
When told Tuesday of the state's plans, Corinne Gott, superintendent for the Roanoke Department of Social Services, questioned whether attacking the number of out-of-wedlock births was doable.
"How would the contact be made?" she asked. "How are they going to identify them to begin with? You have to connect it to something. You have to have a contact point. Where would it be?
"But we would certainly be interested in working with projects if there are going to be any."
Gott said she knew of no current local effort to target out-of-wedlock births. The department has worked on a teen pregnancy project, however, for more than 10 years.
But if the focus is a group of women, the majority of whom are between the ages of 20 and 30, "how long do they want them to postpone these births?" Gott asked.
"Women's groups may say they shouldn't be trying to regulate adult behavior."
To participate in the state's race for the $20million, localities must have a governing body sign a resolution agreeing to be a ``Partner in Prevention'' and host a town meeting by June 10 to organize resources. Localities must also send in a ``partnership agreement'' by July 1, which outlines a plan on how to reduce out-of-wedlock births. Then they must mobilize a diverse group of resources to follow through on the plan.
And while the cash awards might not come until later, if at all, there are a few incentives communities can get at the outset. Localities may be able to use some state funds for birth-prevention programs and also may qualify for grants. The state also will assist in grant writing and organizing coalitions.
The soonest a state could receive the federal money is 1999.
For more information on setting up a town meeting, call Kathy Wibberly at (804)786-1211.
Staff writer Leslie Taylor contributed to this story.
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