Colt Lien

IWC 100

Joan Kopperud

5 December 2016

A report on the Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program

Introduction:

We help teens see the hope in their future. -Dr. Michael A. Carrera

The Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention program is an organization founded by

Michael A. Carrera. His focus is to help prevent teen pregnancies by giving sexuality education

and providing a reason for students to not want to make risky decisions regarding sexuality. It is

important to recognize that in Dr. Michael Carreras quote, and in his vision, he implies that all

teens have hope in their future. He implies that they have the potential for a positive future. They

simply have to see it in order to achieve it (Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program

2009).

Summary:

The Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Pregnancy Program uses an educational approach to

help reduce teen pregnancies and births. They have a mission statement that reads, To help

youth responsibly achieve the independence they crave, and use that independence to become
successful adults (Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program 2009). This program

begins working with children when they become 11 or 12 years old. Carrera teaches these young

teens in a way that does not simply shove facts and statistics in their faces. The program

understands that teaching children about safe sex and sexual health is not an effective way to

prevent them from becoming pregnant. It is the lack of a desire to not get pregnant that is making

teen pregnancy rates rapidly rise (Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program 2009).

Many teens that are minorities or are impoverished do not see a positive future that

involves a successful lifestyle. When there is a determination to build a strong lifestyle with a

successful future, a pregnancy would hinder the ability to achieve that goal. Therefore, those

motivated to achieve a long term goal take extra precautions to avoid pregnancy. It is this idea

that The Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program is pursuing.

Dr. Michael A. Carrera has built his program almost entirely off of this theory of

education being the key. He does give sex education to the teens he helps, but he points his focus

in the direction of giving the children a reason to not get pregnant. This is done by giving them

extensive practical knowledge in areas that promote success outside of school. Job Club is one

area that gives students financial literacy with loans, stocks, bonds, credit, interest, and even

offers job shadow opportunities to get teens engaged (Job Club 2009).

Need:

With over eight million American households pulling in an annual income of less than

$10,000 and almost twice that many homes pulling in less than $15,000 annually, our society

needs to understand that poverty is a plague that is slowly killing millions of families and we
need to fix it (American Fact Finder). It is widely accepted that poverty is a cycle that is passed

from one generation to the next, with very few that are able to crawl away from the

overwhelming odds that keep so many in poverty. When children are pressured financially at

home, it can feel very suffocating and impossible to achieve anything; especially a higher

education. Due to this, many teens do not feel obligated to excel in high school, because they do

not plan on pursuing a college education. Without some form of degree given by a college

institution, it becomes very difficult to get a well paying job. If the individual does not find an

occupation that can support a family, the poverty cycle returns when they intentionally or

unintentionally start a new family. Children are very expensive to take care of and require lots of

caretaking, making it difficult for the struggling parent to maintain a job while taking care of the

child. With less opportunities than others, the second generation child may feel stress and

struggle, just as the first generation child did, causing a lack of determination to achieve goals,

such as a diploma, thus repeating the cycle of poverty (Licensed Mental Health Counselor

2012).
 Dr. Michael Carrera offers his program in hopes and success of giving children a reason

to pursue higher education, build practical skills for the future, and ultimately discover

motivations to avoid early and unwanted pregnancy. In his effective strategies, Carrera has been

able to successfully achieve this goal for the past 32 years with many thousands of teens across

America.

Effectiveness:

As the Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention program enters its 32nd year of success,

it is important to recognize the effectiveness of the program and how it has come to be such a

highly praised service. After the program was gaining a public image in its beginnings, an

independent evaluator had declared the Carrera program to be highly effective. In the programs
25th year, it had been found to meet Top Tier evidence of effectiveness standards by The

Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy (Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program Meets

Top Tier Evidence of Effectiveness 2009). This coalition is designed to determine which

organizations are most effective and which should receive federal funding.

Opposition:

Currently there is no public opposition to the Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

Program. However, it may be irritating to some that the only state this program exists in is New

York. Although New York is a state with a high population and is able to access a large amount

of teens through the Carrera program, there are pushes to start chapters of this organizations in

other states (Where It Happens 2009). They receive donations to help fund internal programs like

the Job Club. They also use these donations to fund facilities and pay the workers that help

educate these teens.

Conclusion:

To review, the Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program is highly effective in

reducing teen pregnancy rates by giving a powerful education that gives insight into sexual

health while also giving students a motivation to avoid risky decisions regarding sexuality. It is

important to give full support to this cause to help reduce teen pregnancy and overall economic

poverty rates. By reaching out and supporting even a single generation of children, anybody is

able to help break the cycle of poverty and give meaning to the life a struggling family.
Works Consulted:

"Adolescents." Adolescents | The Children's Aid Society. Children's Aid Society, 2009. Web. 3

Dec. 2016.

American Fact Finder. United States Census Bureau,

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_

14_5YR_DP03&src=pt. Accessed 2 Dec. 2016

"Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program." Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

Program | The Children's Aid Society. Children's Aid Society, 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

"Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program Meets Top Tier Evidence of Effectiveness."

Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program Meets Top Tier Evidence of

Effectiveness | The Children's Aid Society. Children's Aid Society, 2009. Web. 3 Dec.

2016.

"Job Club." Job Club | Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program. Children's Aid

Society, 2009. Web. 3 Dec. 2016.

Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Wordpress.com, 14 Sept. 2012,

https://licensedmentalhealthcounselor.org/2012/09/14/is-pretending-to-be-pregnant-a-me

ntal-illness-part-2/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2016.

"Where It Happens." Where It Happens | The Children's Aid Society. Children's Aid Society,

2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.