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is a barrier to employment for the grantee relative or other eligible adults. • Documentation of the disability of a grantee relative, household member, or other eligible adult must specifically support that the individual has significant barriers that hinder their ability to obtain gainful employment and must include a complete vocational rehabilitation assessment. If the disability is that of a household member, documentation must specifically address attempts made to develop opportunities for participation in any work activity, including the reason that the attempts failed to yield positive results. The documentation must also include the lack of resources or the lack of compatibility of available resources to assist with the disabled household member in order that the grantee relative or other eligible adult could participate in work activities that might lead to employment. • Natural disasters or pandemics that occur outside the control of the agency create barriers that cause possible economic disruptions, missed work due to illnesses, and reduced work activity.

Waivers to the time limit are granted only to those who have complied with TANF program requirements. When an AU is granted a hardship waiver, it remains subject to all TANF program requirements for as long as it continues to receive.

M. Reducing Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancies

1. Department of Public Health (DPH) Partnership

Preventing teen pregnancy is a priority for the Department of Public Health (DPH). In partnership with the Georgia Department of Human Services, DPH addresses teen pregnancy through two programs using a comprehensive approach: the Georgia Adolescent Health and Youth Development Program and Georgia Family Planning Program.

The scope of the problem: Using the OASIS tool on the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website (dph.georgia.gov/health-data-and-statistics), one can see that the birth rate among girls in Georgia aged 15-19 years old declined from 16.5% to 15.9% between 2021 and 2024. During that same period, the teen birth rate among non-Hispanic White adolescents declined by 0.3% from 11.7% to 11.4%. The decline in the teen birth rate among non-Hispanic African Americans was reduced from 20% to 17.6%.

Today, more teen mothers are unmarried than in past generations. Single-parent families, especially young families, are at greater risk of emotional and financial instability. Teen mothers are also at greater risk of receiving late or no prenatal care, having a premature birth (<37 weeks) or low birth weight baby (<2,500 grams), and experiencing an infant death (<1 year).

• In 2024, 40% of 10-to-14-year-old mothers had experienced late or no prenatal care. • In 2024, 9.1% of births by 10-to-14-year-old mothers were premature, and 13% were low birth weight.