Enhancing a Home Visiting Program to Address Repeat Adolescent Pregnancy: The Early Impacts of Steps to Success

In an ongoing project that seeks to improve a home-visiting programs for teenage mothers, preliminary results suggest some improvements in uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives and lower rates of unprotected sex. Repeated, close-together births have been shown to have negative effects on the health and well-being of mothers and children, but research has begun to show that contraception and support services can decrease these numbers. The two-year Steps to Success program provided more resources around healthy birth spacing, father involvement, and educational and career aspirations than did traditional programs, but has not seen robust improvements above the control in these areas thus far.