00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 27 am                                                                                   
01 Relating to prevention of teenage pregnancy by implementation of the Sugar Baby                                         
02 project.                                                                                                                
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the teenage pregnancy rate in Alaska is one of the highest in the nation;                                      
05 and                                                                                                                     
06  WHEREAS 75 percent of teenage pregnancies are unplanned; and                                                           
07  WHEREAS teenage childbearing affects the family unit economically, socially, and                                       
08 developmentally; and                                                                                                    
09  WHEREAS, even with adequate prenatal care, children of teenage mothers have a                                          
10 high incidence of low birth weight, behavioral disturbances, depression, developmental delays,                          
11 and mild mental retardation; and                                                                                        
12  WHEREAS children born to teenage parents are more likely to spend their lives in                                       
13 poverty, belong to a single parent family, and are four to five times more likely to live in a                          
14 foster home; and                                                                                                        

01  WHEREAS the average cost to the state for Medicaid and Aid to Families with                                            
02 Dependent Children benefits for an unplanned pregnancy for one year is over $30,000; and                                
03  WHEREAS teenage childbearing presents a barrier to the young parent in                                                 
04 accomplishing education and life goals and developing marketable skills; and                                            
05  WHEREAS teenage childbearing affects the business community economically through                                       
06 loss of human potential and financial resources of teenage parents who have not developed                               
07 the knowledge, skills, or motivation to become productive workers; and                                                  
08  WHEREAS the children of teenage parents tend to become parents themselves at an                                        
09 early age; and                                                                                                          
10  WHEREAS prevention of unplanned teenage pregnancies is one solution to a very                                          
11 serious social dilemma facing the nation; and                                                                           
12  WHEREAS prevention of unplanned teenage pregnancies requires education of                                              
13 teenagers in the fiscal and social realities of parenthood; and                                                         
14  WHEREAS one educational tool that has proven effective in educating teenagers on                                       
15 the actual effects of unplanned pregnancies is the Sugar Baby project; and                                              
16  WHEREAS the Sugar Baby project provides teenagers with the opportunity to                                              
17 experience some of the realities and responsibilities involved in being a parent by spending                            
18 five days performing the duties that a parent would be required to perform;                                             
19  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the continued use of                                         
20 the Sugar Baby project in school districts throughout Alaska as a method to promote                                     
21 abstinence and help prevent unplanned teenage pregnancies.