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MIDVALE, Utah (AP) -- With Midvale having improved its infant mortality and suicide rates, Mayor JoAnn Seghini is now focusing on the high rate of teen pregnancies.
Midvale's infant mortality rate was 12.3 deaths per 1,000 when Seghini took office six years ago.
"That's a Third World country rate," she said, but added that the rate has been cut in half.
"We were highest in the state for suicide rate but we are now one of the lowest in the state, just by focusing on prevention and letting people know where there are resources," Seghini said.
Now Seghini has her sights on lowering the city's teen pregnancy rate, which is four times the state average for girls 10 to 14 years old and twice the state average in the 15-17 age group.
"Those figures were absolutely heartbreaking," Seghini said. "Some of those women in the 15- to 17-year-old (range) could be married, but certainly not the majority."
Even more heartbreaking for Seghini was actually meeting those young mothers and hearing their stories.
She met a 12-year-old with a 1-year-old daughter. The young mother told her, "I can't go to the mall. I can't do anything because of her."
"They are little kids" themselves, Seghini said. "So what we are trying to do is see if we can't get the whole community involved in doing what we need to do to make a difference."
She said the plan is get churches, family groups and schools to be an intervention source that parents may choose to consult for more information.
The city has received a positive response from two stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and from Episcopal, Baptist and Presbyterian groups, all of whom said they have made efforts to educate their youth members about the perils of teen pregnancy.
Seghini, who supervised sex education curriculum for years as the Jordan School District's assistant superintendent for curriculum and staff development, hopes to reach both girls and boys with a message of responsibility and prevention.
She said boys need to be told they must support the children they father for 18 years, and girls need to be made aware that they do have resources, that they can go after the fathers."
Some young mothers in the Mexican-American community balk at pursuing child support because they fear the father will then take the child to Mexico, Seghini said.
Working through Midvale's Community Building Community program, and creating a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Steering Committee, Seghini and her staff are contacting various agencies and groups that may have contact with teens and teen mothers.
The hope is to develop a comprehensive, coordinated program for children and their parents.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
