Governor's Conference on the Family. This is Gov. Mike Huckabee with this week's comment from my corner of the Capitol. Final plans are being made for the Governor's Conference on the Family to be held Nov. 1 at Harding University in Searcy. The conference will allow Arkansans to discuss problems and solutions for today's families.
Nothing is more important to the future of our state than the state of our families.
Arkansas' teen pregnancy and divorce rates are among the worst in the nation. Studies show that almost half of unwed teenage mothers go on welfare within one year of their baby's birth. In fact, the best predictor of a child's success in life is the presence of a father in the home. Yet only about 50 percent of American children will spend their childhood in an intact family. Every week in Arkansas, an average of 54 girls ages 10 to 17 have babies.