TEENAGE MOMS: COMMITMENT - Street Talk #4
Channel: Peter Hvizdak
Date: 2014-03-21

Multimedia Journalist Peter Hvizdak and Reporter Brian Charles and  recently went to Crosby High School and visited with four teenage mothers in the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Teens (SPPT) program there who shared the stories of their pregnancy, the challenges of motherhood and their commitment to provide for their children.
 The state of Connecticut has one of the lowest teen birth rates in the country, yet the rate of teen births in the state's largest cities remains high.  
 Economists and social scientists see a definitive connection between teen births and poverty. 
 Between 2006 and 2010, the most recent years for which the state has teen birth records, Connecticut recorded an average of 22 births for every 1,000 teenage women. In New Haven, the rate during the same period was more than twice the state average; in Waterbury the rate surpassed 50 births for every 1,000 teens and in the state capitol Hartford, teen births occurred at a rate approaching three times the state average.
 In an effort to reduce the number of teen pregnancies in Connecticut, Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Teens (SPPT) has set up support programs in some of the state's largest high schools. At Crosby High School in Waterbury, the nonprofit provides social services and support for more than 50 young mothers.