Holyoke approves plan to address teen births

HOLYOKE - After two years of meetings, a unified plan to address the city's high teenage birthrate was finalized this week by city officials and community groups.
 
"This is great," said City Councilor Diosdado Lopez on Monday. "It's long overdue. It's an issue the city has been struggling with for years."
 
He chairs the City Council's Redevelopment Committee, which voted on Monday in favor of recommending a one-page document outlining a strategy for addressing the teenage birthrate. The recommendations will be forwarded to the council, which will meet on May 5 and must ultimately vote on the recommendations.
 
The panel has been studying the issue for more than two years, Lopez said. The council first referred the issue to it in March 2007.
 
Monday's document recommends the creation of a task force that will meet monthly and include representatives from the state, the mayor's office, the council, the Health and School departments, and religious community "in order to collaborate their time, effort, and resources in working to reduce the city's high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases."
 
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