Most programs working with older youth often find themselves with females who are referred to ILPs either pregnant or with children in tow. Some agencies shy away from serving this population in less supervised-settings due to liability issues, whereas others have found pregnant and parenting teens to be very responsive to opportunities provided by ILPs. Here are some of my observations of our and other programs:

1.Start as early as possible in preparing teen moms for life on their own.
Buying as much time as possible to continue receiving support makes a difference. The more time living independently with support, the better in terms of being ready to take over full responsibilities. A few years ago we placed a 16 year old with two children in a scattered-site apartment. She could not get along with people in general but took great care of her children and was able to spend close to two years in her own apartment before leaving care. When she was discharged, she knew what she was doing.

2. Individualize services. Every young woman’s situation is different. Some need daily support, others just a place to stay. Some have young men who scoot as soon as they hear about the pregnancy; others have responsible boyfriends ready to help support mother and child. Don’t create rules for all that will be impossible for some to follow.

3. Develop a housing continuum. The goal is for teen moms to find a living arrangement that is affordable, safe and appropriate to their level of development and income. Some moms need to be in group settings where others are around to monitor their behavior and their child’s well being. Others are ready, and do better, living alone. Some can share a larger apartment with another teen mom; some need a place where the baby’s father can eventually move in.

4. Facilitate the involvement of a broad support group. Former foster parents, relatives, the father of the child and his family, parenting class instructors, medical care-providers all need to be engaged in supporting the mom and all need to understand her added vulnerability as she transitions out of the child welfare system.

5. Connect with subsidized housing resources. Even the most motivated young mothers will find it difficult to support a market rent apartment after discharge for custodial support. Helping moms access the complicated maze of low-income housing is essential; many cannot this without our help. Many will need help with this several times post-discharge.

6. Transfer responsibility to the mom. Youth in out-of-home placements are used to having numerous people to call to ask for everything from rides to diapers. Our job is to slowly help the mom learn to do those things on her own and to see herself as the person in charge of accessing resources. This is hard to do and takes time-a sense of entitlement is hard to change.

7. Assure safety of youth and child. It is indeed a risk to have a teen mom living independently with child while in your program. The need for self-sufficiency preparation has to be balanced with safety issues. Unfortunately, some of the young mothers in care are nowhere near ready to think about the needs of a child and workers find themselves in the position of reporting the abuse and neglect of a child of their IL client. We have had children taken away from a mom but then re-connected once the mom was more together with her own self-care and responsibilities.

8. Find/keep the right support staff. It is often (but not always) helpful to have staff who have had children of their own to keep an eye out for moms and newborns. We actually have 4 grandmas on staff as we speak. But the key is to find staff who understand and are comfortable with the pregnancy/childbirth process and can balance support while transferring problem solving responsibility to the mom.

9. Connect with other teen moms. This can be accomplished through group gatherings, recreational events, shared phone lists or shared living arrangements. For some, this is very helpful, others not as much. Forcing moms to connect rarely works.

10. Assure that solid connections to health system are made. Make sure the medical providers can continue seeing the mom after discharge from care and make sure medical
cards and necessary insurance information is in place at discharge. Anticipate that moms will need help with this after leaving the ILP.

11. Take a long view on progress and have realistic expectations. Most young mothers will need support for years to come. Anticipate post-discharge calls asking for help with rent, unexpected high utility bills, baby supplies, problems with fathers, housing problems or just listening time.

There is perhaps no more vulnerable group than adolescent mothers with limited or no family support. As challenging as this population may be, they are in desperate need of our support.