[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book II)]
[August 11, 2000]
[Pages 1633-1634]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Memorandum on Second Chance Homes for Teen Parents
August 11, 2000

Memorandum for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 
of Housing and Urban Development

Subject: Second Chance Homes for Teen Parents

    My Administration has made it a key priority to promote personal 
responsibility, prevent teenage pregnancy, and to provide young people 
with the educational and employment opportunities necessary to break the 
cycle of dependency. We know the devastating effects on young people 
when they become parents too soon--nearly 80 percent of single teen 
mothers end up on welfare and only one-third receive a high school 
diploma or GED. We also know the impact that this has on their children, 
who are 40 percent more likely to have low birth weights; need 20 
percent more health care; and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect. 
Moreover, girls of teen mothers are a third more likely to become teen 
mothers themselves and boys of teen mothers are nearly 3 times more 
likely to be incarcerated than boys of mothers who delayed childbearing.
    Under my Administration, I have taken bold steps to promote 
responsibility and prevent teen pregnancy by taking executive action to 
require young mothers to stay in school or risk losing welfare payments, 
enacting welfare reform in 1996, strengthening child support 
enforcement, and launching a National Campaign to Prevent Teen 
Pregnancy. We know that these efforts are having an impact: teen birth 
rates have dropped for the eighth year in a row, falling by 20 percent 
since their most recent peak in 1991 to the lowest levels since we began 
collecting these data 60 years ago. But we also know that there are 
still far too many children having children, and we must do more.
    To build on this progress and to reach out to teen mothers at risk 
of a repeat pregnancy, my FY 2001 budget includes a provision to invest 
$25 million in the creation and expansion of ``second chance homes.'' It 
is critical that we help teen parents who cannot live with their own 
parents or other relatives gain access to supportive, adult-supervised 
living arrangements--second chance homes--that offer parenting skills, 
job counseling, education, and other referrals to help reduce the chance 
of repeat pregnancies and improve the prospects for young mothers and 
their children. Where appropriate, these programs should also reach out 
to involve young fathers in responsible parenting, and to help reconnect 
these teens with their own parents. An early evaluation of the Second 
Chance Homes program in Massachusetts has demonstrated that second 
chance homes can reduce the number of repeat pregnancies. Moreover, this 
study showed that mothers served by second chance homes were more likely 
to become self-sufficient, complete high school, and to keep their 
children's immunizations up to date. With approximately 100,000 repeat 
pregnancies each year, we must do all

[[Page 1634]]

that we can to help improve the prospects for teen parents and their 
children.
    Therefore, I direct the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and 
Housing and Urban Development to work together to implement the 
following actions:
       (1)   Within 60 days, issue guidance to nonprofit organizations 
            (both faith-based and other community-based organizations) 
            and State and local governments to create awareness about 
            the second chance home model, highlight States' 
            responsibility to provide access to adult-supervised living 
            arrangements for minor parents who cannot live at home, 
            provide best practices concerning program design, and 
            provide user-friendly information about existing funding 
            sources for both facilities and services costs, for the 
            creation or expansion of second chance homes;
       (2)   Create a joint technical assistance effort to help 
            communities interested in establishing or expanding second 
            chance homes;
       (3)   Use all available legal authority to provide organizations 
            interested in establishing second chance homes access to 
            foreclosed, underutilized, and surplus real estate or 
            facilities at the maximum allowable discount. The Department 
            of Housing and Urban Development should also explore 
            opportunities to increase the availability of Supportive 
            Housing Program funds to second chance homes for teen 
            parents; and
       (4)   Clarify that teen parents in second chance homes may be 
            eligible for low-income housing vouchers and encourage 
            second chance home operators to accept housing voucher 
            holders into their programs.
    The swift and collaborative implementation of these actions is vital 
to achieving our goal of helping teen parents take responsibility for 
their lives and their children's futures.

                                                      William J. Clinton

Note: This memorandum was embargoed for release by the Office of the 
Press Secretary until 10:06 a.m. on August 12.