Law ensures kids get internet
The SUCCESS Act will continue to give students Wi-Fi, hotspots, modems and routers
BY BILL PARRY
Some of the highest teen
birth rates in New York City are
found in communities in southeast
Queens and on the Rockaway
Peninsula, according to
the state Department of Health
(DOH).
Black and Latina teens in
these areas are more likely to
give birth before their 20th birthday
than their white counterparts
in other neighborhoods,
according to the state DOH. Lack
of access to reproductive healthcare
and sex education are contributors
to this inequality.
Teens who experience a rapid
repeat pregnancy (a pregnancy
that occurs within two years after
the first) are at an increased
risk for poor health and psychosocial
outcomes.
To reduce the effect of these
disparities, the Queens Comprehensive
Perinatal Council, Inc.
(QCPC) provides services to local
pregnant and parenting teens
through its Teens Educational
Enrichment Network (T.E.E.N.)
Support Project.
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | JULY 30 — AUGUST 5, 2021
The T.E.E.N. initiative aims
to empower pregnant and parenting
teens by helping them
avoid rapid repeat pregnancies
and sexually transmitted infections,
to maintain compliance
with an effective birth control
method and to focus on academic,
workforce development and
training goals.
Since 1988, the Queens Comprehensive
Perinatal Council,
Inc. (QCPC), a not-for-profit,
community-based maternal/
child health organization,
has promoted improvements
in perinatal health in underserved
Queens communities
through a multitude of programs
and projects.
The T.E.E.N. Support Project
offers TASA (Teenage Services
Act) case management,
a services intervention to increase
their access to an array
of community resources. Home
visits are conducted according
to the recommended schedules
of the American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP) and the American
College of Obstetrics and
Gynecology (ACOG).
An evidence-based curriculum,
AIM 4 Teen Moms (AIM-
4TM) is also offered as part of
the project. AIM4TM consists
of a series of empowerment sessions
and activities designed
to enable teenage mothers to
recognize their self-efficacy
and embrace their future as an
opportunity to achieve their
reproductive, educational and
professional goals.
The T.E.E.N. Support Project
also develops a variety of enhanced
services to address the
complex needs of pregnant and
parenting adolescents. These
include academic support,
family support, teen dad support,
development of enhanced
parenting skills, mental health
support group meetings, mentorship
and linkages to teen
community resources.
As part of the T.E.E.N. Support
Project, QCPC also offers
monthly health education workshops
to address topics that are
pertinent to pregnant and parenting
adolescents such as Reproductive
Health and Birth Spacing,
Family Planning, Healthy
vs. Unhealthy Relationships,
Love is Not Abuse, Safe Sleep
Practices and Teen Parenting
Best Practices.
The T.E.E.N. Support Project
is offered to Black and Latino
teenagers (13 to 19 years
old) who are either pregnant
or parenting a child 12 months
or younger and live in one of
the following ZIP codes: Cambria
Heights (11411); St. Albans
(11412); Springfield Gardens
(11413); Jamaica (11432, 11434);
South Jamaica (11433); South
Ozone Park (11435, 11436); Far
Rockaway (11691); Arverne
(11692); and Rockaway Beach
(11693).
The T.E.E.N. Support Project
offers welcome gifts for
newly enrolled teen participants
and has prizes and raffles
throughout the program. The
dedicated staff at QCPC are
available to help the pregnant
and parenting teens in these
target communities. To contact
QCPC, call 718-276-TEEN (8336)
or email qcpcorg@aol.com.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Nearly 18 months after the
COVID-19 pandemic shone a
bright light on the far-reaching
reality of the homework
gap and more than 12 million
students in the United States
were unable to access remote
learning, a Queens lawmaker
is introducing new legislation
to ensure that students will
continue to receive internet
access following the COVID-19
pandemic.
Queens Congresswoman
Grace Meng along with Senator
Edward Markey (D-MA),
Senator Chris Van Hollen
(D-MD), and an additional 15
senators and 25 House members
introduced The Securing
Universal Communications
Connectivity to Ensure Students
Succeed (SUCCESS) Act,
on Thursday, July 22.
The legislation builds on
the Emergency Connectivity
Fund created under the American
Rescue Plan and provides
schools and libraries with $8
billion a year over five years
— for a total of $40 billion —
to continue to provide Wi-Fi
hotspots, modems, routers,
and internet enabled devices
to students, staff and library
patrons.
The bill continues the lawmakers’
efforts to close the
homework gap facing 12 to 17
million students in the U.S.
who do not have internet access
at home, and support distance
learning after the pandemic
is over.
“As our nation works to
move past the pandemic, we
must use this opportunity to
help all students get online,”
Meng said. “Increasing internet
access is a vital issue that
I have been proud to champion
with Senator Markey, and
fighting for the $7 billion that
was included in the American
Rescue Plan was a great victory.
But more must be done
to build on this critical down
payment.”
Meng, a mother of two
young children, says she
knows firsthand how crucial
this is, and that each and every
student must have the
tools they need to succeed in
school.
“The SUCCESS Act is an
essential component to permanently
closing the homework
gap. I urge all of my colleagues
in both chambers to help close
this digital divide by supporting
our effort to secure additional
funding for schools and
libraries,” Meng said.
Even before the current
emergency, students without
connectivity were at an
educational disadvantage because
they could not complete
homework assignments that
required internet access after
class, according to the lawmakers.
The pandemic only made
this situation worse as schools
shifted to online learning,
leaving students without internet
access unable to continue
their education. Under
the Emergency Educational
Connections Act, a part of the
American Rescue Plan, Congress
provided a one-time,
$7.17 billion appropriation to
connect students and library
patrons struggling to learn at
home.
The SUCCESS Act would
provide crucial additional
funding to ensure that the
kids who are finally being
connected by the Emergency
Connectivity Fund are not
disconnected once the original
funds run dry.
According to Markey, the
homework gap is an educational
inequity that long predates
the current emergency,
and funding is needed to ensure
that no student is forced
to sit in a strip mall parking
lot, hoping to connect to a local
store’s internet in order
to finish their homework.
“This essential funding
will build on the newly created
Emergency Connectivity
Fund and help ensure that the
homework gap does not grow
into a damaging learning and
opportunity gap following the
pandemic for our children,
particularly those who live
in communities of color, lowincome
households, and rural
areas,” Markey said.
Van Hollen said too many
students in Maryland and
across the country still lack
reliable internet access and
face significant barriers in
completing their schoolwork.
“To close this gap, we
must get funding straight to
where it’s needed,” Van Hollen
said.
Read more at QNS.com.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4526.
Photo courtesy
of Rep. Grace Meng’s office
QCPC staff helps pregnant and parenting teens achieve their life
goals through a number of initiatives. Photo courtesy of QCPC
Queens org. supports teen moms with new initiatives
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