South Burlington – After decades of providing specialized educational services to pregnant and parenting teens, Lund has announced the discontinuation of the New Horizon Education Program (NHEP). Since the early 1990’s NHEP, a state of Vermont approved education program, has helped hundreds of young parents who were at risk of not obtaining their high school degrees. NHEP was originally launched to ensure that the educational needs of pregnant and parenting teens in Lund’s residential treatment program were addressed. At that time, most parents in the Residential program were minors. Over time, Lund expanded its education program to also serve minor parents living in Chittenden County who needed an alternative education program that focused on the needs of pregnant and parenting high school students, and later expanded to provide a GED program to serve older parents who had dropped out of school and wanted to finish their high school education.
Over the last decade, Lund has observed a change in the age of parents in the residential treatment program; and over the last several years, we have observed that more parents coming in to the program have already obtained their high school diplomas. These demographic changes are both indicators of success in our state—a decrease in the rate of pregnant and parenting minors and an increase in the number of persons in treatment who have already obtained a high school education. Community stakeholders and other providers serving the population have also observed these same demographic changes.
Data from Power to Decide shows:
• The teen birth rate in Vermont declined by 80% between 1991 and 2020
• The teen pregnancy rate declined by 65% between 1988 and 2013
Over the last decade, the number of referrals and enrolled students in NHEP has continued to decline, and over the past several months we have had no new referrals.
“We are proud of the incredible educational services Lund provided to hundreds of students over the years and know that this program has contributed to the success of many families across our state,” says Courtney Farrell, Director of Residential and Community Treatment Programs at Lund. “We are also proud to be a part of the story about why the teen pregnancy and parenting rate has decreased in Vermont.”
As Lund transitions from this vital chapter in our history to the next, our work continues to focus on adapting to the current needs of our community and building effective preventative services that support our goals of helping children and families thrive and help our state to sustain some of the positive outcomes we are observing now.
Lund helps children thrive by empowering families to break cycles of poverty, addiction, and abuse. Lund offers hope and opportunity to families through education, treatment, family support and adoption. Lund is a member agency of the United Way of Northwest Vermont. For more information, please connect at lundvt.org.
