Supports and Services for Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care - Nevada

Date: October 2025

Youth's Parental Rights
Citation: DCFS Pol. Memo # 0804

In policy: A minor parent has most of the same rights and responsibilities as an adult parent. All parents, even when they are under age 18, have a constitutional right to the care, custody, and control of their children and the right to make important legal decisions about their children, such as religion, school, medical care, etc.

All parents, including minor parents, must be informed of their right to seek custody, partial custody, or visitation of their children.

A minor parent may decide to place his or her child for adoption privately through a licensed child placing agency. The minor parent can make this decision and complete a consent of adoption without the representation of an attorney or approval of a parent or guardian.

Placement Options
Citation: DCFS Pol. Memo # 0804

Child welfare agencies seek to maintain the continuity of a minor parent family unit by ensuring minor parents and their children are placed together in the most family-like setting possible, unless it has been determined that placement together poses a risk to the child. Every attempt must be made to locate caregivers or other placement options willing to provide whole family placement and supportive, family-focused care for the minor parent and his or her child.

Minor parents in foster care retain the same rights to custody and visitation as other parents and must be placed with their child whenever possible. Caseworkers must assess the appropriateness of the current placement and if necessary, adjust the placement to address the needs of the minor parent. This may include selecting a new foster care placement that demonstrates a willingness and ability to provide support and assistance to the minor parent and his or her child. If the child cannot be placed with the minor parent, consideration will be given to a placement that can accommodate a very high frequency of contact between the minor parent and his or her child.

When seeking an appropriate placement for the child of a minor parent, the caseworker will consider the following: 

  • Living arrangements where the minor parent and the child can remain in the same home
  • Living arrangements where the minor parent can learn parenting skills and independent living skills
  • Living arrangements where the adult caregiver is open to a Shared Responsibility Plan

If the minor parent's child is at risk of removal, the agency will do the following:

  • Discuss the custodial parent's thoughts and feelings about potential placement of the child with the noncustodial parent
  • Contact the noncustodial parent to determine his or her willingness to be involved with the child
  • If the noncustodial parent is under the care and control of the child welfare agency, contact the youth's caseworker and request that he or she makes a face-to-face contact with the youth to determine his or her willingness and suitability to be involved with the child

If the minor parent's child is not at risk of removal, the agency should encourage the minor parent to consider visitation between the child and the noncustodial parent. When the minor parent's child is in the legal custody of the child welfare agency, contact between the child, the custodial parent, and the noncustodial parent must be facilitated when that contact is found to be in the best interests of the child.

Health Services 
Citation: DCFS Pol. Memo # 0804

A pregnant minor can seek prenatal care independently, without the consent of her parent, guardian, and/or acting guardian. The child may need help accessing prenatal care or family planning services or may need mental health services to adjust to the impending birth.

Parent Preparation for Expectant Youth

This issue is not addressed in the laws and policies reviewed.

Education and Services to Support Parenting Youth
Citation: DCFS Pol. Memo # 0804

A minor parent still retains his or her right to an education through the public school system under title IX. The child welfare agency must safeguard the educational rights of the minor parent. Minor parents often are unable to complete traditional high school settings or pursue postsecondary education. The child welfare agency must provide appropriate interventions through the case plan or independent living transition plan to support the minor parent's pursuit of education and support him or her with services to assist the attainment of educational goals.

The minor parent must be encouraged and allowed the opportunity to attend school, complete homework, and participate in age and developmentally appropriate activities unrelated to and separate from parenting.

For information about assistance for completing high school for any youth in foster care, see Educational Supports for Youth in Foster Care - Nevada | Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Economic and Concrete Supports 
Citation: DCFS Pol. Memo # 0804

For a minor parent in foster care setting, the foster care maintenance payment includes support for the minor parent's child.

Minor parents often have difficulty accessing other types of public benefits to which they are entitled because of the complexity of the rules and processes that are required to maintain eligibility. Current Federal law requires mothers under age 18 to live with their parents and to remain in high school or an equivalent training program (if not yet graduated) to obtain welfare. The child welfare agency must ensure that minor parents can access the benefits to which they are entitled and address the potential barriers to eligibility such as a lack of transportation, necessary documentation, lack of job, or education requirements.

Even if a minor parent is not eligible for cash assistance, the same limitations do not apply to programs such as health insurance; food stamps; Women, Infant and Children (WIC); and subsidized day care can assist the minor parent in providing appropriately for his or her child. The caseworker will assist the minor parent in applying for and obtaining the following when applicable: 

  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Once the minor parent reaches the age of majority, they can apply for TANF benefits. 
  • Child support: A minor parent is eligible to seek assistance for establishment and enforcement of a child support obligation which may require the caseworker's assistance as a minor cannot initiate legal proceedings. Noncustodial parents in child welfare custody should be made aware of this information. 
  • WIC: A minor parent is eligible to apply for WIC regardless of placement setting. The child welfare worker should assist in completing the application. 
  • Medicaid: A caseworker will assist the minor parent in securing appropriate Medicaid coverage for the minor parent's child. The minor parent may need to apply for Medicaid separately for their child if the child is older than age 1 and the child welfare agency does not have custody. Medicaid will require an agreement that child support will be pursued.

Services and Supports for Parenting Youth That Promote Self-Sufficiency

This issue is not addressed in the laws and policies reviewed.

Foster Care Prevention Strategy for any Child Born to the Youth
Citation: DCFS Pol. Memo # 0804

The child welfare agency must take special consideration of the age-based distinctions that prevent a minor parent from exercising his or her parental rights and meeting his or her parental obligations. Securing safe and appropriate housing can be a challenge for minor parents. The child welfare agency must support a minor child in securing safe housing with his or her child, and, if applicable, should be addressed in the minor parent's Independent Living Agreement (refer to 801 Independent Living Policy).

Under the title IV-E prevention activities, funds can be used for in-home parent skill-based programs, mental health services, and substance abuse prevention and treatment services to prevent the placement of children and youth into the foster care system. These funds can be used in this capacity for 12 months for foster youth who are pregnant or parenting.

Minor parents and their children living in foster care must be provided access to existing services for which they may be eligible that are specifically targeted at supporting, maintaining, and developing both the parent-child bond and the minor parent's ability to enhance parenting skills and to provide a permanent and safe home for the child.