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At 15, Veronica Telles was thrust into the world of parenthood. She had to buy diapers, formula and little outfits she couldn't afford. She had to find a place to live.
The wounds from her own troubled childhood had not healed and she was responsible for keeping a newborn safe from harm. There was little time to dwell on the past, on thoughtless acts that included having a child out of wedlock.
Like thousands of teen-age mothers scrambling to gain control of their lives, Telles and her daughter, Ebony, went on welfare-something mothers her age may soon be prohibited by law from doing.
Under a much-debated welfare reform package passed by the House of Representatives on Friday, states would be allowed to cut off cash welfare payments to parents under age 18. The package would roll 40 federal programs into broad block grants to the states, saving about $66 billion over five years. It would end the entitlement status of many programs, meaning that individuals would not be guaranteed aid and federal spending would not automatically rise to meet increased need.
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Supporters of cutting off welfare payments to teen-age parents argue that the cuts are needed because the welfare system encourages teen-age pregnancies by softening the economic blow.
But Telles, now 17 and living in the Mid-City area, says that in her case nothing could be further from the truth.
"When Ebony was born I wasn't thinking about welfare, about raising a child," she said. "I was too young myself."
At the time, Telles said, she was on a downward spiral, experimenting with drugs and alcohol, hanging...