Until communities offer multiple pathways to connect with ladders of opportunity, many young families headed by out-of-school and out-of-work (OSOW) youth will be unable to achieve financial independence. To break the cycle of poverty, many human service organizations use two-generation approaches with "young families" (that is, families with children in which the parent is an OSOW young person ages 15-24 years). One hallmark of these two-generation approaches is the use of strategies that address the developmental needs of the young parents, their children, and the families as a whole. The…
This report discusses the development, components, and evaluation of a home-based/group-based intervention program designed to increase the nurturing skills of teenage parents, treat the abusive parenting practices of teen parents, and prevent the initial occurrence of abusive parenting practices in teen mothers identified as high risk for physical and emotional maltreatment or neglect. The Nurturing Parenting Program for Teenage Parents and Their Families was validated by twelve agencies providing parent education to teenage parents throughout the country. A total of 178 teen parents (94%…
The Sure Start Plus pilot program was implemented in England to target support services to teen parents. The initiative was intended to reduce social isolation and improve parenting skills, health care, housing opportunities, and child care. Through a variety of models, Sure Start Plus offered individual advisors, advocacy, group therapy, and parenting classes. This executive summary presents an overview of the program and highlights the findings of an evaluation. The review indicated that crisis services, parenting activities, and health assistance were successful in helping the young women…
This manual produced by the Survival Skills Institute of Minneapolis describes the cultural values that should be considered when working with African American adolescent parents, including beliefs about sexuality, birth control, abortion, adoption, and family structure. Social workers and other service providers are advised to respect the community values as positive influences on the lives of young people. Stereotypes and judgmental attitudes create an adversarial, distrusting atmosphere that is not conducive to skill development. The Survival Skills Institute established the Black…
The Maine Young Fathers Project, funded by the Children's Bureau, was a demonstration child abuse prevention program targeted toward the young fathers of teen mothers. Fifty-three fathers younger than 24 years old participated during the two and one-half years of the grant project. The project goals were to integrate services for fathers into two existing programs for teen mothers; to recruit community volunteers to engage young fathers; to reduce abandonment by fathers; to relieve the stress of caregiving experienced by teen mothers; and to help fathers meet their financial responsibilities…
This final report discusses the Teen Parent Program, which provided a continuum of services to reduce child abuse and neglect and to strengthen the families of teenage parents. The project addressed a number of problems teen parents face: weak family structure and support; low levels of self-sufficiency and self-esteem; and lack of family planning, medical care, information on parenting, and parent-child interaction. The program consisted of 4 basic components. These components were: a family care specialist, teaching child development and home management, and providing transportation and in-…
This report discusses the Teen Age Parent Program (TAPP), a school-based program for teen parents, which began in December 1986 and continued through December 1988 in 2 school districts in Wisconsin. In both districts, TAPP involved 4 components: support groups for teen mothers; support groups for teen fathers; support groups for extended family members; and volunteer parent aides. The program served 100 teen mothers, 42 teen fathers, and 60 extended family members in the 2 districts. Both school districts chose to allocate money from their regular budgets to continue the program…
The Parenting Education for Teen Family Life Skills Project was developed to provide a support and parenting education project for pregnant and parenting teenagers in the Oklahoma City-County area. Objectives were: to increase parental self-esteem; to increase social support; to increase knowledge of normal infant behavior; to increase participation in educational programs; to decrease the incidence of reported and confirmed child abuse and neglect; to decrease the incidence of unplanned pregnancy; and to decrease dependence on public financial assistance. Several components made up the…
This first-year evaluation report describes a project in Connecticut that provides parenting education and support services to pregnant teenagers and young mothers. The program, its goals, and its objectives are described. Program evaluation assessed the impact of the program on the clients' knowledge, child rearing, and relationships with their children. The major problems of the program involved finding a site accessible to all clients, providing transportation, keeping the teenagers motivated during the summer, engaging fathers, and developing more precise data collection and analysis. The…
This final report describes the Partners in Achieving Life Skills project, a cost effective model to prevent child abuse and neglect by teenage parents. The project consisted of 3 tiers: a community health nurse who assesses the child and family; paraprofessionals who serve as case managers; and community volunteers who assist the adolescent in achieving life skills. The project helped adolescents to increase knowledge in child development, knowledge of parenting issues, and levels of support systems.Document scanned.
