Summary: A variety of local programs seek to help teenage mothers complete their secondary education and thereby avoid welfare dependency. GAO found that close monitoring of teenage mothers' educational activities coupled with follow-up when their attendance drops, increases the likelihood that they will complete their education. Leveraging the welfare benefit as a sanction or reward for attendance has contributed to the completion of high school by teenage mothers. Providing support services to overcome barriers to continued attendance, with or without financial incentives, also seems to work, especially for dropouts. Finally, assistance in meeting child care or transportation needs may be particularly helpful to motivate young mothers to complete their secondary education. Although current federal Aid to Families With Dependent Children policy stresses the importance of teenage mothers' participation in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program, it does not require states to serve all teenage mothers in JOBS, nor does it require states to monitor the school attendance of all teenage mothers on welfare. Congress is now deliberating several reforms to the welfare system, including whether to provide benefits to teenage mothers. Although GAO found that several approaches can succeed in helping teenage mothers complete high school, the final form of any reform legislation will likely influence state's use of these approaches.
