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November 2024Vol. 25, No. 9Strategies to Support Pregnant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care

Youth in foster care who are expecting or parenting face the compounded challenges of navigating foster care while also navigating a pregnancy or parenthood. Caseworkers and other professionals who support these youth must be prepared to meet their complex needs. A new brief from Casey Family Programs, What Strategies Support Pregnant and Parenting Teens in Foster Care?, explores how to best support this population.  

The challenges that pregnant and parenting teens in foster care face include lower educational attainment, mental health challenges, unemployment, homelessness, multiple placements, trauma, and limited knowledge of parenting skills and child development. They may also experience barriers to receiving effective and equitable services due to insufficient data, insufficient sex education, stigmas and stereotypes, and limited placement options. Youth engagement and equal partnership are important steps to overcoming these nuanced challenges and barriers. The brief addresses some off the things caseworkers and professionals should consider when working with expectant and parenting teens:

  • Support their dual realities by addressing their needs as young people while respecting them as parents and emerging adults.
  • Recognize their diverse identities and discern potential strengths and barriers resulting from intersecting identities, including race, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical and mental abilities, and immigration status.
  • Center young people's voices and choices related to parenting, placements, and needed supports.
  • Ensure youth understand their parental rights.
  • Improve two-generational outcomes.
  • Provide unbiased guidance and support.

The brief provides information about what makes an effective program for teen parents and their children, such as focusing on healthy development for both the teen parent and the child and promoting strong parent-child relationships. It also offers examples of programs that achieve these goals, such as the Florence Crittenton Services resource center in Denver, CO, and St. Anne’s Family Services in Los Angeles, CA. 

For more information on expectant and parenting youth in foster care, explore Child Welfare Information Gateway's bulletin for professionals Improving Services for Expectant and Parenting Youth in Care and factsheet for families Expecting and Parenting in Care: Tips for Youth—both also available in Spanish.