CENTER HELPS TEEN MOMS STAY IN SCHOOL : PALMDALE SERVICE AIMS TO KEEP GIRLS OUT OF WELFARE TRAP.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Teen-age mothers without a high school diploma are twice as likely to receive welfare payments, and 54 percent of the current welfare caseload are women who had their first child as a teen-ager.

Teens who become pregnant before graduating from high school have the highest dropout rate, are the least likely to return to school, and have a substantially reduced capability to earn income.

With pregnant teen-agers and teen mothers at risk for long-term welfare dependency, a new program targets these young women on welfare and encourages them to finish high school - by graduating or obtaining an equivalency degree - and get a job.

``Our job is to go in and see what barriers there are to teens going back to school,'' said Roxanne Carrillo, supervisor of the El Nido Family Centers office in Palmdale that opened in May. ``The goal is for them to get off AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children). Self-sufficiency is the goal. Part of that is that they get a high school diploma. The other part is that their families are whole and healthy, physically and mentally.''

El Nido, which means ``The Nest,'' is a nonprofit social service agency that provides services to communities throughout Los Angeles County. The Palmdale office, at 1008 W. Ave. M-14, Suite F, is the agency's first center in the Antelope Valley.

The center is running the Cal-Learn program, a state-mandated service for pregnant teens and teen mothers receiving AFDC that is funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services.

According to Carrillo, the program will provide critically needed services to a historically underserved population in the Antelope Valley.

Births to mothers ages 19 and younger in the Antelope Valley increased more than 4 percent, from 607 to 634, between 1991 and 1994, the last year for which Los Angeles County Health Services Department statistics were available.

The figures were compiled by the Santa Monica-based Adolescent Pregnancy ChildWatch program, using ZIP codes in Lancaster and Palmdale. If ZIP codes for outlying areas such as Lake Hughes, Acton, Lake Los Angeles, Littlerock and Pearblossom are added, the number of births to young moms for 1994 increases to 698, figures show.

The numbers may be even higher, according to Antelope Valley Hospital officials. Of the 4,850 births there last year, hospital officials estimate that 20 to 30 percent of those were to teen mothers.

Since opening in May, the El Nido staff of four case managers, working with the Lancaster office of the county Public Social Services Department, have developed a caseload of 200 mothers, mainly between the ages of 16 and 19.

The teens have either dropped out of school, are on independent study or are attending adult school, Carrillo said.

``Some weren't doing well prior to becoming pregnant,'' Carrillo said. ``There are issues in the home, a high rate of abuse in the family, poverty. So to go to school is a goal that is not necessarily one they feel they can reach. Our job is to help them get there.''

El Nido's case managers work with schools and social workers to see if there are tutorial or mentor programs that can help their clients make the transition back to school. Also, case workers investigate child care options and available transportation services, Carrillo said.

The case managers visit clients at their homes and, if needed, drive them to medical appointments.

``We're not just an information referral service. We work with agencies to make sure the teens have access to different services,'' Carrillo said.

Cal-Learn participants receive bonuses and sanctions based on their grades and whether they graduate from high school. The families of teens receive a bonus of $100, up to four times each year, if they maintain a grade point average of 2.0, or a C.

The families are sanctioned if the teen fails to maintain adequate progress by maintaining a grade point average of 1.0, or a D. A $100 sanction is applied to the family AFDC payment and cannot exceed $50 per month.

Pregnant and parenting teens receive $500 upon graduating from high school. The bonus is paid to the teen parent.

The Cal-Learn program started in June 1993 as part of the five-year California Work Pays Demonstration Project and required federal approval before enactment.

Los Angeles County implemented the program in December 1994. All 58 counties now have Cal-Learn programs that provide services to approximately 23,000 teens statewide.

Pregnant and parent teens must participate in the program until a high school or equivalency diploma is obtained or until the teen turns 19.

After graduation or when teens turn 19, they become mandatory participants in the Greater Avenues For Independence program, which helps prepare clients to get jobs, Carrillo said.