Purpose

The Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico developed the Teen Parent Program for pregnant and parenting teens that are committed to improving the well-being of themselves and their children.

Description

The Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico (CAASNM) established the Teen Parent Program (TPP) to provide support services for pregnant and parenting teens that have the desire to further their education, enhance their parenting skills, and improve the well-being of themselves and their children.

The Teen Parent Program provides case management to teen parents that are able to remain with their family of origin or successfully live independently.  Participants must fulfill specified program requirements and meet regularly with the program’s Case Managers.  Participants that need help getting connected to support services are well suited for the Teen Parent Program.

There are four overall program goals (open link for a list of objectives under each goal):

• Goal 1: Increase educational attainment of pregnant and parenting teens
• Goal 2: Increase individual and family functioning
• Goal 3: Increase resiliency in pregnant and parenting teens by developing a sustainable support system
• Goal 4: Reduce the rate of second pregnancies

To qualify for the Teen Parent Program you must:

• Have the desire to enhance your life and the life of your child
• Be enrolled or planning to enroll in High School, GED program, vocational school, or college
• Have physical custody of your child.
• Be a pregnant or parenting teen between the ages of 13-21
• Must be drug and alcohol free
• Open to attending individual counseling

The Home-Based Case Management Component provides case management and support services for pregnant and parenting teens that are able to stay within their family of origin or current living arrangement.  Participants of the home-based component must meet regularly with their case manager and satisfy various program goals and expectations.  The case manager maintains a caseload of between 30-40 participants.

The Home-Based Handbook contains:

• Program Description (Home-Based)
• Program Goals and Expectations for Participants
• Additional Participant Responsibilities
• TPP Staff Responsibilities
• Contact with the Case Manager
• What do we work on when I meet with the Case Manager?
• Participation
• Counseling
• Incentive Program
• Handbook Receipt and Acknowledgment

An Intake-Assessment Form, including a Development Scale based on eleven domains, is completed for each participant upon entering the program.  Each domain of the scale is rated either Stage 1: At Risk, Stage 2: Safe, or Stage 3: Thriving, and each stage has two sub-levels for overall scaling ranges from 1-6.   The Development Scale is completed again when participants exit the program to determine levels of progress achieved, as well as to identify remaining priorities for the participant to address.

Each participant creates a Participant Development Plan that sets short-term (3-6 months), intermediate (6 months to 1 year), and long-term (1 year or longer) goals for themselves and/or their child.  All goals and objectives are required to be measurable.  A Plan of Action is used to help participants identify specific activities and timeframes to work toward achieving their goals.

Staff uses DAP Charting to evaluate on-going participant needs and to develop appropriate follow-up plans.  This involves:

• “D” Data: What did the participant say or feel during the visit?  What did you observe during the visit?  Include both non-verbal and intuitive senses.
• “A” Assessment: What’s going on?  How does the participant appear?  What is her mental/physical state?  Include both non-verbal and gut hunches about his/her situation.
• “P” Plan: Response to his/her overall situation.  What are you going to do about it?  What is your follow-up plan with the participant

Further insights on the DAP Charting Process are described through the University of Purdue’s Marriage and Family Therapy Program (esp. pages 1-4).  An Education Progress Report Form is used to obtain feedback from teachers involved with each participant.  The staff is also provided guidance on Professional Ethics and a Buddy System is used to promote peer-to-peer support among staff members.

Additional Teen Pregnancy Prevention Resources are available as part of Virtual CAP Resource Information.

Outcomes

The results from the program continue to be positive and show the effectiveness of the program to fulfill its primary goals and objectives.  A four-year study was carried out by the New Mexico Teen Pregnancy Coalition to measure the success of specific outcomes of select Teen Parent Programs across New Mexico.  The study showed that Teen Parent Residences definitely had an impact on positive outcomes for pregnant and parenting teens and their children.  CAASNM’s program was included in this study, and the findings were as follows:

• 84% of those who left school before being recruited to these programs returned to school
• 77% increased their education or remained in school
• 26% of young parents maintained or obtained employment
• 4% became pregnant after enrollment, and 2% of those enrolled for over a year had a repeat pregnancy (the national average for repeat pregnancy is 22%)
• 5% of young mothers gave birth to low birth weight babies (national average is 7.6%)

Specific TPP outcomes for FY09 include:

• Served 72 pregnant and parenting teens and 48 children
• 6 teens graduated from high school
• 2 teens received their GED
• 67 teens successfully attended school while in the program
• 5 teens were enrolled in school who were not previously enrolled
• 53 teens completed a school year
• 10 teens completed parenting training
• 16 teens enrolled in Post Secondary Education/Vocational Training
• 29 teens worked full time or part-time during their enrollment
• 120 volunteer hours (in the past year) given by program participants
• 2 second pregnancies to teens participating in the program