Teen pregnancy program could see cuts

The North Country Children's Clinic's Adolescent Pregnancy Program will be eliminated in St. Lawrence County if funding for the Maternal and Early Childhood Foundation is cut as part of Gov. David A. Paterson's proposed executive budget.

Unless some or all of the $1.2 million in state funding is restored, services also will be cut for pregnant and parenting teens in Jefferson County.

"This will remove a source of case management and referrals for additional services, and that's pretty much what our nurse does," said Aileen G. Martin, the Children's Clinic executive director. "We're talking about young people whose brains aren't fully developed yet, and studies have come out in the last few years telling us this is a group of folks who won't manage very well on their own."

The clinic received $50,000 from the foundation this year to support its Adolescent Pregnancy Program, Mrs. Martin said.

The Maternal and Early Childhood Foundation, Albany, is a nonprofit organization that provides funds to community-based agencies in high-need areas. The foundation serves low-income expectant parents, promotes proper prenatal care, works to improve birth outcomes and supports positive parenting and healthy child development.

Foundation funding enabled the North Country Children's Clinic to serve 170 pregnant and parenting teens last year in St. Lawrence County, and 275 from Jefferson County, Mrs. Martin said.

Eliminating the program could lead to more costly services, she added.

"We'll probably (end up) seeing more children born with low birth weights or complications because parents were unable to access additional services throughout their pregnancy," Mrs. Martin said.

The Children's Clinic has appealed to area elected officials, including Assemblywoman Di-erdre K. Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur, who said state representatives will have a better idea next week as to what proposed funding cuts are likely to remain in the governor's budget, and where restorations might be possible.

"I'm not expecting a lot of restorations, but I do think that some things will be recalibrated because some cuts totally decimate programs," Ms. Scozzafava said.

Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, has been focused on the issue, said Mark A. Pacilio, her chief of staff. "She's been pretty vocal about that in conference and they continue to work on that, and we're hopeful that we can get that item restored, or restored to some extent."

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, said conference discussions aim to identify health care funding priorities.

"Where we are right now is going through the governor's budget, which we have done line by line to determine what our priorities as the Legislature are, and we are working very hard to make our priorities known," he said. "Looking at the health care budget as a whole is the most major component in the budget."