School of Nursing NewsRelease

(Posted 10-24-01)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Service Contact: Laurie Gengenbach, 336-334-5371

PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROGRAM PUTS A DENT IN OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS

    GREENSBORO, N.C. – The School of Nursing at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is putting a dent in

This year's graduates of College Bound Sisters gather around Laurie Smith, program manager, center. The graduates and colleges they are attending, are, from left, Jenny Knott (Rockingham Community College), Tymeshia Burch (Carolina Beauty College), Layne Williams (Guilford Technical Community College) and Tanisha Rodgers (UNC Chapel Hill). Now in its 5th year, College Bound Sisters is earning national recognition for its success.

North Carolina’s high rate of out-of-wedlock births with a nationally-recognized adolescent pregnancy prevention program known as “College Bound Sisters.”
    The program’s success rate is especially significant in light of a recent report from the N.C. Center for Health Statistics showing that births to unwed mothers account for one out of every three births in the state.
    Approximately 24 girls from Guilford County participate in the program at any given time, with progress tracked against a control group. Now, five years into the program, the statistics are encouraging. College attendance to date is 100 percent for graduates of College Bound Sisters, and 20 percent for the control group. There have been three pregnancies and two high school dropouts from the participating group in the past five years, compared to 10 pregnancies and 11 dropouts in the control group.
    Two participants graduated last year and both went on to college. Another group of four graduated this year and all are pursuing productive futures -- two at community colleges, one in trade school and one as a freshman at UNC Chapel Hill. Each of the graduates earned more than $1,000 in her college fund.
    Started in 1996 by Drs. Hazel Brown and Rebecca Saunders, professor and associate professor of nursing, the program does what few others like it have done. It sticks with participants as they grow into women, guides them toward an attainable goal, and gives them the means to achieve it.
    “We don’t focus on the ‘don’t do’s’. We focus on the ‘can do’s’,” Brown said. “Many of them will be the first in their families to ever attend college. They have no one who they can talk to. Then they come here, and they say, ‘Yeah. I can do that.’ We see them change right in front of our eyes.”
    College Bound Sisters represent one of the most at-risk groups in society. They are between the ages of 12 and 18, from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and the younger sisters of teenage mothers. Statistically, girls from such backgrounds are at high risk for following in their sisters’ footsteps.
    Girls are awarded a small stipend for attendance in weekly meetings -- $5 for transportation and $7 that goes into their college funds. Participants spend time on UNCG’s campus, swimming at the student rec center, practicing science in labs, eating in the dining halls, taking dance classes or engaging in community service. Lots of discussions about reproductive health, pregnancy prevention and life skills are included along the way.
     The program is attracting accolades from the health community. In 1999, it was awarded a national award for innovation in teen pregnancy prevention from the Association of Women’s Health Obstetrical and Neonatal Nurses. Last year, it won a first place Research Utilization Award from the Sigma Theta Tau nursing sorority.  Brown said the award committee chairwoman later took her aside and told her that in her many years with the organization, it was the first time she had ever know the committee to arrive at a unanimous decision on the first ballot.
    Funding came from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for five years and from a grant from the North Carolina Department of Social Services for the current year. Additional funding has come from Moses Cone Wesley Long Community Health Improvement Foundation and the Greater Triad Chapter of the March of Dimes. Brown and Saunders are now pursuing another grant from DHHS. Cost of running the program is approximately $80,000 per year, and more than pays for itself, said Saunders, citing reports that the direct and indirect costs of adolescent pregnancy surpasses $34 billion annually, and that in 1990, the U.S. disbursed $25 billion in Aid to Families with Dependent Children to teen moms.
    “If we keep one girl a year from getting pregnant, we’ve more than paid for the program,” Saunders said.
     Brown and Saunders have written two journal articles describing the program’s success, now awaiting publication. In further efforts to spread the word, they welcome opportunities to speak to groups or agencies interested in developing their own pregnancy prevention programs. More information about College Bound Sisters is available by calling Laurie Smith, program manager at (336) 334-5193. ###

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