High-risk teens in Fallbrook studied

A group of students from San Diego State University’s (SDSU) School of Nursing conducted a research project on at-risk female adolescents in Fallbrook and secondary education obstacles they face.

On April 25, two of the students, Erin Ellenbeck and Alecia Duckworth, presented their group’s findings to representatives of Fallbrook Smiles Project, Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, Fallbrook Union High School District, Fallbrook Healthcare District and nurses from the County of San Diego Department of Public Health at the Mike Choate Early Childhood Center.

The project focused on assessing the barriers that at-risk female adolescent mothers face in continuing their education.

“The goal we hope to accomplish is to provide this target aggregate with resources, empowering them to excel academically,” said Ellenbeck. Finding out the needs of this group helped the SDSU students compile a six-page piece entitled “Guide to Continuing Education.”

The resource guide they developed provides information on FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), financial aid, scholarship information, an overview of two-year versus four-year colleges and childcare at colleges and other facilities.

Said Ellenbeck, “We focused on three areas in Fallbrook: Fallbrook High School, Ivy High School and Fallbrook Family Heath Center’s Women’s Clinic.”

In the early stages of their research, the students confirmed that Fallbrook’s total population was 46,678. Out of this number, they said they determined that 57 percent were Caucasian, 36 percent were Hispanic and the remaining a mix of various races.

In 2006, Ellenbeck said, 689 births were reported in Fallbrook. The Hispanic population gave birth to 384 babies, while the Caucasians had 234, Ellenbeck said. Of these, 10 percent of the babies were born to teen mothers.

“Sandy Magaro, the [Fallbrook Union High School District] school child psychologist, relayed that being an adolescent mother can be socially debilitating,” said Ellenbeck.

To better understand the teen study group’s behavior, the SDSU students created a survey to determine the primary method of birth control used.

Surveys, said Duckworth, were distributed to two alternative charter schools and two women’s clinics. Their sample group included 37 females with a mean age of 17. Seventy-eight percent of the sample group was Hispanic and roughly 16 percent of them already had children.

“When we gathered our survey results, we had a startling 54 percent [who] used no birth control method whatsoever,” reported Duckworth.

Characteristics of the individuals in the study group included feelings of hopelessness, powerlessness and displays of noncompliant behavior and a lack of motivation.

“These are key factors we need to address if we want to motivate these girls,” said Ellenbeck.

Duckworth underscored a correlation between education and poverty, citing a 2006 report by the National Center For Educational Statistics.

“Those who have less than a high school education have the highest percentage of an unemployment rate,” she said. This underscores the importance of offering resources for secondary education to adolescent mothers.

Collaborative efforts continue in Fallbrook to target this high-risk group, said Ellenbeck. A coalition consisting of public health nurses, psychologists (at Fallbrook High School), local medical providers and SANDAPP (San Diego Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Programs) has been developed to address the challenge.

In 2000, the Census Bureau revealed there were 275 single mothers in Fallbrook, with 36.4 percent of them existing below poverty level.

“From gathering this data, we have learned that Fallbrook has less single mothers than the national average but more [who] are living below the poverty level,” said Duckworth. “These women are the ones that we really need to target to [help] further their education, so they don’t have to live below poverty level.”

The strengths that they found that exist in Fallbrook, said Duckworth, were: accessibility to SANDAPP, child psychologist Sandy Magaro, the AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) program, County Public Health Nurse Madelyn Lewis, the Women’s Clinic, the WIC office and the County of Health and Human Services office in Fallbrook.

“Weaknesses that we found were the high rate of depression for high-risk teens, no local college, low rate of contraceptive use and high teen pregnancy rate,” said Duckworth.

Other weaknesses they cited included: no on-site childcare at the schools, knowledge shortfall of educational resources, sex education and inadequate stress on the importance of abstinence until marriage.

Among other recommendations, the SDSU research group urged the establishment of childcare facilities at Fallbrook, Ivy and Oasis high schools. It was hoped that by having these child daycare centers, at-risk adolescents would be inclined to raise their grade point averages.

These SDSU researchers also discovered that many of the at-risk female adolescents had the desire to attend college but lacked the step-by-step knowledge of how to achieve that.

The goal of the community diagnosis, explained Duckworth, was to assist these at-risk teens by providing available resources and support for them while they attend college.

Copies of the “Guide to Continuing Education” may be obtained from Public Health Nurse Madelyn Lewis; at Fallbrook, Ivy or Oasis high schools; and at the Fallbrook Women’s Clinic.