FARMINGTON – Kerr House, a group home for pregnant and parenting teenage mothers, is suspending operations.

The overseeing board made the unanimous decision Wednesday due to mounting debt and concerns about the financial viability of the program. Eight employees – both full- and part-time – will lose their jobs.

The board is looking for homes for four young mothers living at Kerr House.

Funding reductions and fluctuating occupancy made it difficult to maintain a cash flow adequate to meet expenses, said Janine Winn, chairman of Positive Turning Points for Youth’s Board of Directors.

One issue facing the agency: a significant reduction in teenage pregnancy. Maine is among the five states with the lowest teen pregnancy rates. Franklin County has the lowest rate in Maine.

Kerr House has an annual operating budget of more than $300,000, she said. Income wasn’t keeping up with expenses. The largest chunk of funding comes from Medicaid, Winn said. State cuts to Medicaid funding were making an impact, Winn said.

Other funding comes from the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area, private donations and Maine Department of Human Services.

Kerr House on High Street opened in early 2001, though plans for the group home had been in the works for years.

The program was set up for young mothers age 14 to 19, with the intention that they would stay for two years, Winn said, but that wasn’t always the way it worked.

The young mothers contribute a small amount toward expenses if they collected state aid, Winn said.

Living at the home now are two expectant mothers and two mothers with children, Executive Director Judy Rawlings said. The children are age 4 and 1.

There is a group setting with rooms for four young mothers and also a transitional apartment, Winn said.

“We will do everything we can to help them find another living situation that meets their needs,” Winn said.

Kerr House will cease operations as soon as places for the young mothers are found.

“We hope that happens within the week,” Winn said.

Winn said the Positive Turning Points agency is hoping to be able to reorganize and come up with a new plan. That might mean a change of mission, Winn said.

“At this time, we don’t know what that mission might be,” she said. “It might possibly be that there is another need we might be able to fill.”

A couple of employees have already been laid off, but some are needed until places are found for the mothers, Rawlings said.

“We’re looking for safe, supporting places for the young mothers to continue their pregnancy and continue to raise their children,” she said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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