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 fact sheet provides parents with helpful tips on how to discuss and prevent teen pregnancy with their adolescent children. Tips include communication strategies, making expectations clear, and setting limits.
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 prospective study of a birth cohort was conducted to identify the factors that predict the age at which young men make the transition to fatherhood and whether those characteristics predict how long young men live with their children. The research also examined the link between individual differences in the amount of time fathers spend living with their children and fathers' psychosocial characteristics in young adulthood. Data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study in New Zealand were analyzed for the project. Findings revealed that by age 26, 19 percent of the…
This program evaluation assessed the effectiveness of the Young Men as Fathers (YMAF) program administered by the California Youth Authority. The program offers parenting education to 15 to 20 wards of the state living in four institutions to help them become more involved in their families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and provide greater emotional and financial support to their children. Data for the evaluation was collected for 822 program participants from July 1993 through December 1995 and for a comparison group of 847 wards in two non-participating institutions. While the…
This final report summarizes the results of an NCCAN-funded project designed to reduce child abuse and neglect among families with adolescent parents. The project consisted of group parenting education programs; peer supports; in-home intensive services when needed; and educational and support services for fathers. An evaluation of the program found that long-term, open-ended group intervention was more effective than a 12-week didactic group model. Recommendations include using a naturalistic evaluation instrument to assess the impact of the program on parent-child interactions and targeting…
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 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.
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…
