A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Recommendations

Conference participants valued the opportunity to meet and share information about their work with colleagues from other states as well as federal officials. Some planned to urge their states to designate a representative in their education departments who would be an authority and for pregnant and parenting teens and their children. The National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education was urged to consider convening conferences annually, to facilitate discussions among government officials, educators, social workers, other program administrators, and researchers about means of improving outcomes for teen parent families.

The key points to emerge from the panels and discussions are listed below. These observations are grouped by recommendations for schools, community programs and practitioners, and government agencies.

School-Based and School-Linked Programs

• take intensive approaches to improve retention and graduation rates;
• recognize the links between teen pregnancy, domestic violence, and substance abuse;
• improve teens' knowledge about nutrition, general health habits, and family planning;
• assure pregnant teens' access to health care, including prenatal care that begins during the first trimester;
• help pregnant teens quit smoking and substance abuse;
• expand opportunities for education in alternative schools and programs;
• reach pregnant and parenting teens early, while they are still attending school;
• facilitate a prompt return to school after childbirth;
• build mentoring relationships which help motivate teen parents to stay in school;
• implement Title IX so that pregnant and parenting teens are not denied educational opportunities, including the choice of remaining in their home schools;
• incorporate asset-based approaches that strengthen identity and self-esteem in efforts to discourage childbearing by teens;
• offer supportive learning environments for pregnant and parenting teens in public schools, applying lessons learned from successful alternative schools;
• develop competency-based learning and other flexible programs of study in public high schools for pregnant and parenting teens and other at-risk students;
• arrange for quality child care services in or near schools attended by teen parents;
• arrange for on-site health care, developmental screenings, and follow-up services for the children of teen parents;
• strengthen the involvement of fathers in the care and support of their children;
• develop and implement comprehensive, multigenerational approaches to providing education and supports to teen parent families;
• emphasize the value of nurturing and stimulating environments for children beginning in infancy, help teen parents to maintain such environments at home, and guide their searches for suitable child care; and
• develop effective and well-coordinated systems of case management in programs serving teen parent families.

Federal and State Governments

• develop multigenerational policies to address the needs of whole families;
• provide stable and flexible sources of funding for comprehensive educational and supportive services to pregnant and parenting teens and their children; and
• tap additional resources and identify stable funding sources to improve both the quality and availability of care for the children of teen parents.

Federal Government

• support longitudinal research on the effects of adolescent childbearing on families;
• determine, in consultation with researchers, whether new sources of longitudinal data or definitions of outcome measures are needed for intergenerational studies;
• mobilize additional support for rigorous evaluations of programs serving pregnant and parenting teens and their children;
• establish a clearinghouse to gather, publish, and disseminate information about local programs, innovations, and best practices; and
• convene government officials, educators, social workers, other program administrators, and researchers in discussions about improving outcomes for teen parent families.

State Governments

• devote a portion of the average daily attendance funding to pay for child care;
• revise policies that limit the eligibility of teen parents for child care subsidies;
• develop policies that exempt teen parents who are in school from TANF time limits;
• develop guidelines on statutory rape to distinguish cases that require the attention of the criminal justice system as an alternative to mandatory reporting requirements;
• require school districts to offer classes in parenting education, accompanied by home visits, to provide teen parents with information about health, nutrition, and the developmental needs of their children; and
• designate an authority on issues affecting pregnant and parenting teens and their children.

[Conference Themes and Policy Implications (part 2 of 2)]

[Conference Agenda]