Section 6-102 - Legislative policy.
§ 6-102. Legislative policy.
The General Assembly declares that:
(1) single parents should have access to a comprehensive range of services to enable them to make suitable plans for the care of their children and themselves;
(2) youths under the age of 18 years who are pregnant or who are parents of a child for whom they are unprepared to provide adequate care and protection are of special concern;
(3) this State has a continuing interest in preventing the problems associated with teenage pregnancy;
(4) to the end of preventing the problems associated with teenage pregnancy, single young people who are at risk of parenthood should have access to appropriate counseling and health services; and
(5) if the family of a single parent is unavailable, unwilling, or unable to provide financial, material, and emotional support to a single parent, then this State must provide timely services that will:
(i) be an effective alternative to costly long term foster care; and
(ii) prevent the neglect or abuse of a child of the single parent.
[An. Code 1957, art. 88A, § 111; 1984, ch. 296, § 2.]