Section 6-102 - Legislative policy. - Maryland Statutes

§ 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.]