STATE
UPDATE
MISSISSIPPI: TEEN PREGNANCY
January 2015
State Services
Connection to Child
Welfare and Juvenile Justice
Background
Young people currently in or “aging out” of foster
care, and those in the juvenile justice system, are
at increased risk of teen pregnancy. Young adults
leaving foster care on their own, for example, face
significant challenges as they transition to independence—typically without permanent connections, the
assistance of a family, or other support. In addition,
the factors that lead to a young person’s interaction
with the juvenile justice or child welfare systems—
such as trauma, abuse and neglect, lack of resources, substance abuse or mental health issues—often
coincide with those that contribute to higher risks of
teen pregnancy.
© 2015
Every year, thousands of young Mississippians enter
the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. In 2013,
more than 9,000 young people encountered the juvenile justice system through contact with Mississippi’s
youth court system. That same year, more than 4,000
Mississippi youth received foster care services, which
includes placement in foster homes, group homes,
residential treatment facilities or with relatives. Approximately half leave the foster care system yearly,
and in 2012, an estimated 4 percent of foster youth
exited by “aging out” of the system in Mississippi.
Both the national Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the state of Mississippi recognize the
high risk of teen pregnancy among these two populations. Mississippi’s 2012 Plan to Prevent and Reduce
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Child welfare and juvenile
justice systems house and
support pregnant and
parenting teens and, often,
their children. The state also
provides health care services
through Medicaid, covering,
for example, prenatal care
and delivery costs for youth
in foster care. As of Jan. 1,
2014, the Affordable Care
Act requires states to extend
Medicaid coverage to all
former foster youth up to age
26, regardless of their income,
as long as they were enrolled
in Medicaid when they “aged
out” of the foster care system.
Approximately $15 million
of federal funds was spent
on foster care services
in Mississippi in 2012.
According to the National
Campaign to Prevent Teen
and Unplanned Pregnancy,
the costs associated with teen
childbearing, which include
implications for child welfare
and juvenile justice systems,
totaled $137 million in 2010.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES
Intergenerational Impact
Children born to teen parents are more likely to enter the child welfare or juvenile justice system and to become teen parents themselves. Research shows that, nationwide, the children of teen mothers are twice as likely to be placed in foster care as their peers born
to slightly older parents. Sons of teen mothers are 2.2 times more
likely to be incarcerated than the sons of mothers aged 20 to 21. The
cycle often repeats itself: Nearly one third of the daughters of teen
mothers become teen mothers themselves. The multigenerational
cycle of children entering foster care is significant—with nationwide
public sector costs of at least $3.1 billion annually.
Teen Pregnancy specifically focuses on teenagers
in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems,
including the promotion of evidence-based, ageappropriate, and medically accurate programs.
The Facts at a Glance
With responsibility for youth in both the child welfare
and juvenile justice systems, the state has some of
the most vulnerable, at-risk adolescents in its care.
High rates of teen pregnancy among young people
in foster care create challenges for the state systems
responsible for them—and their children—at a substantial cost. National studies have found that:
•
Teens in foster care are two and a half times
more likely to become pregnant by age 19 than
their peers not in the system.
•
By the time they turn 19, nearly half of young
women in foster care have been pregnant,
compared to about a quarter of 19 year olds
overall.
•
Half of young men in foster care report having
impregnated someone by age 21, compared to
19 percent of their peers not in the system.
•
As many as one in three girls in the juvenile justice system has been or is currently pregnant.
Conclusion
Reducing teen pregnancy among youth in foster
care, young people “aging out” of the child welfare
system, and those in the juvenile justice system could
significantly improve child welfare, reduce incarceration rates, and save taxpayer money. Research in-
© 2015
dicates that delaying childbearing even a few years,
into the early 20s, would make a significant difference in outcomes for teens, their children and state
coffers. Programs that help develop the skills youth
need to become successful, productive adults and
members of society can also benefit young people
who transition out of foster care, as well as those
in the juvenile justice system, and can reduce teen
pregnancy. For more information on such programs
and other options for policymakers to consider, see
NCSL’s State Policy Options brief, available at www.
ncsl.org/Default.aspx?tabid=28872.
Resources
Teen Pregnancy Prevention, National Conference
of State Legislatures;
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=23141
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
• Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice;
http://thenationalcampaign.org/featured-topics/
child-welfare-and-juvenile-justice
• Teen Childbearing and Child Welfare;
http://thenationalcampaign.org/resource/why-itmatters-teen-childbearing-and-child-welfare
• Preventing Teen Pregnancy Through Outreach
and Engagement: Tips for Working with Foster
Care and Juvenile Justice;
http://thenationalcampaign.org/resource/tipsworking-foster-care-and-juvenile-justice-0
Extending Foster Care Beyond 18, National Conference of State Legislatures;
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=23384
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Youth in Foster Care
Studies show that, compared
with their peers outside the foster
care system, more foster youth
begin having sexual intercourse
at a younger age, are more likely
to become pregnant or father a
child, and are more likely to carry a
pregnancy to term. Numerous factors—such as a history of neglect,
physical or sexual abuse; limited
access to reproductive health
information and services; and a
lack of consistent relationships with
trusting adults—contribute to this
and other risky behavior.
For youth “aging out” of foster
care in Mississippi, pregnancy and
parenthood can compound the
already difficult process of transitioning to independence—making
it more difficult for them to go to
school, and find a job or a place
to live. Mississippi’s Independent
Living Program provides support
for approximately 1,200 foster
care youth ages 14 to 21. The
Fostering Connections to Success
and Increasing Adoptions Act of
2008 also gave states the option to
extend federally reimbursable care
up to age 21 in certain circumstances, such as for continuing
education.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES