The two groups account for 57 percent of teen births in Arizona, but for 25 percent of abortions in 1994. They make up 34 percent of all girls in Arizona under 20. And poverty is the largest predictor of teen births, according to national statistics. Arizona is one of only six states in the country that doesn't supplement federal funding for family planning. The state's population includes many new residents.
Many families leave behind family support systems in other states when they move here.
Arizona has few programs to prevent teen pregnancy or help teen parents become self-sufficient. The Legislature took a small step forward last session in forming a teen pregnancy task force, which will have representatives from all sides of the issue. And the legislative plan doesn't address programs for teens who are already parents. Some young girls intentionally become pregnant because they're searching for love, said Carol Renfro, director of the Tucson Association for Child Care's Center for Adolescent Parents. D.C. Yet Renfro has found the opposite to be true among teens in her program, who are all high school dropouts trying to obtain a diploma.