Goal Setting with Pregnant Teenagers.

The program at New Lives a congregate care facility for pregnant adolescents in Fort Worth Texas was designed to meet the needs of pregnant students between the ages of 12 and 20. The major components of the program are a continuing education unit social services that provide counseling and assistance to the student and her family and medical services. A study was conducted to determine if goal setting is a feasible technique for this agency and this group of clients. The goal-setting approach used was G.A.S. the evaluation and treatment technique developed by Kiresuk and Sherman. The approach allows a client in collaboration with the worker to set highly individualized goals. Data were obtained between January 1977 and December 1978. The sample of 21 randomly selected clients represented 25% of the average daily attendance rate at the agency during the study. It was found that obtaining aid from Aid to Families with Dependent Children and becoming employed were the problem areas. These were expressed as individualized treatment goals and were most frequently identified by the workers and clients. Obtaining support from parents support from the father of the child and learning to budget were areas of lesser concern. The educational adaptation and interpersonal relationships categories were next in rank order. The largest gains occurred in the psychological adaptation educational adaptation and interpersonal relationships categories.