admin @ Wed, 2005-10-12 11:10
The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Program is trying to connect with Latino parents in Gainesville, which has a large hispanic population.
Michele Ozumba is executive director of the group -- called G-CAPP for short. She says parents identified as community leaders will host parties with other parents in two largely Latino apartment complexes in Gainesville. The plan is to get parents to talk candidly to their teenagers about sex.
Officials say newcomers from Mexico and other parts of Latin America have made Georgia home to one of the nation's fastest-growing Latino populations over the past decade.
Some have arrived from villages that place a high value on motherhood -- even at a young age. Others -- including many who are in the United States illegally -- find themselves in difficult circumstances far from support networks.
Figures from the state Department of Human Resources show the pregnancy rate for Hispanics ages 15 to 19 leaped 58 percent between 1994 and 2003 in Georgia, while the figure for both white teens and black teen ell more than 32 percent.
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