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For every $1.00 spent in mandated after care services Oswego County spends 12 cents in prevention. Oswego County BOCES Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Services (APPS) has released a study on the public costs associated with adolescent childbirth in Oswego County. Oswego BOCES/APPS has been the agency designated by Oswego County for adolescent pregnancy prevention and services coordination since 1984.
The study analyzes data obtained from the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Biometrics, and the Oswego County Department of Health and Social Services. It reveals that one public-assistance-eligible adolescent birth in Oswego County triggers annual mandated taxpayer expenditures ranging from $24,494.00 for an adolescent mother and baby living at home with a parent, to $26,209.00 for an adolescent mother and baby living on their own, to $104,6574.20 per year for an adolescent mother and baby living in a shelter. Costs include routine expenditures for public assistance, housing, child-care, food stamps, WIC, and Medicaid coverage. The study is designed to be a snapshot of taxpayer-estimated costs from the time a pregnant adolescent is in labor to her infant’s first birthday.
In 2002(the most recent numbers available), there were 245 adolescent pregnancies, ages 10-19, in Oswego County. Of the 245 pregnancies in Oswego County in 2001, New York State Bureau of Biometrics reports 178 live births to teens. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy estimates that 80% of unmarried teens that give birth will end up on welfare. Based on these figures, the public cost of births to adolescents in Oswego County living at home with a parent is believed to be in excess of $3,000,000.00 annually. This figure does not include more costly scenarios of adolescents living on their own or in shelters.
Oswego County BOCES/APPS prevention budget for 2003-2004 was $251,532.00. The majority of these funds come from state and federal sources that require no county match. This translates into: “For every one dollar spent in mandated after-care services, twelve cents is spent in prevention.”
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