Nonprofit tackles problem of teen pregnancies in Memphis area

For more than two years, the nonprofit organization A Step Ahead Foundation (ASAF) has been blazing a trail to address one of the most significant problems facing Memphis and Shelby County: teen and other unintended pregnancies.

A Step Ahead was founded in 2011 by Claudia Haltom in consultation with medical professionals. Its goal is to create and implement strategies to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, especially teen pregnancies, and to encourage young women to focus on their education. The mission of the foundation is to provide access to long-acting, reversible contraception for all Shelby County women who want that option.

David H. Ciscel, emeritus professor of economics at the University of Memphis, compiled an economic impact report regarding teen pregnancy. Among the data, Ciscel cited, “Over half of teen mothers do not have a high school diploma, and many teen mothers have difficulty completing job training. Teen pregnancy impairs educational progress, slows job skill development, results in dependence on public assistance and reduces life-long earning capacity.”

During Haltom's 17 years as a judicial magistrate at Shelby County Juvenile Court, she saw and ruled on many cases in which the parent was a single mother who had gotten pregnant while in school, dropped out and had one or more babies before being emotionally, physically or financially prepared to provide an adequate home environment for her children. The lack of information and access to effective birth control methods was clearly an issue.

The teen pregnancy rate for Memphis and Shelby County is among the highest in the nation. Through ASAF’s educational community outreach, the organization is seeking to break the cycle of generational, institutional and systemic poverty by lowering the rate of teen pregnancy and offering options for young women to postpone childbearing until they have met their educational goals. The program promotes abstinence, but for women who have become sexually active, ASAF provides options for the most effective, long-acting, reversible birth control methods (LARCs) to help these women stay on their chosen educational paths.

Since ASAF was founded, the organization has served more than 2,900 women by providing the most effective forms of birth control on the market today – ParaGard IUD, Mirena IUD, Nexplanon implant and Depo Provera shot. These are the easiest forms of birth control to use and are known as “get it and forget it” methods. These contraceptives prevent pregnancy from three months up to 10 years, depending on the method chosen. “Get it and forget it” methods were severely underutilized in Shelby County before A Step Ahead Foundation was founded.

ASAF offers information about LARCs county-wide, provides a 24/7 call center to link women and teens seeking access to the LARCs to participating community health centers, provides free, dependable transportation if needed, and acts as the payer of last resort for costs not covered by insurance or governmental programs. The program directly addresses many of the needs identified in a needs assessment produced by the University of Memphis’ Center for Research on Women in collaboration with Memphis Teen Vision, a coalition of groups addressing teen pregnancy issues. And ASAF continues to make strides to expand throughout Shelby County, ensuring that geographic access, as well as monetary access, is not a barrier.

Mark Clemons, MD, an otolaryngologist, said, “Stopping the epidemic of teenage pregnancy may be the most important issue in stopping the continued violence, illiteracy and poverty in the Memphis community. If young people get an education and have a future without the responsibility of having children while they are children themselves, they will have a better chance of being productive taxpayers who will contribute to our society in a positive way.”

Haltom added, “Ensuring access to long-acting, reversible contraceptives requires much more than ASAF's core services to inform and assist women and teens. ASAF recently signed contracts to partner with seven Shelby County Health Department locations, bringing the total number of partnering clinics to 18. And, A Step Ahead Foundation continues to actively recruit other private, for-profit clinics that are in need of this service for patients who may not have any means of payment.

“The advocacy of medical professionals exponentially expands ASAF’s outreach potential to ensure that clinics have the long-acting, reversible contraceptives (LARCs) readily available and that medical professionals understand, appreciate and are trained to provide the clinical services.”

Clemons said, “We all have a responsibility to address this critical situation in our community."

To Learn More

Go online to astepaheadfoundation.org or call 901-729-7044. To refer a woman for an appointment with a partner clinic, call 901-320-STEP(7837). To join ASAF as a partner clinic, contact Amy Mulroy at amy@astepaheadfoundation.org.