Supports and Services for Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care - New York
Youth's Parental Rights
Citation: OCFS Foster Care Practice Guide, Ch. 11; 16
In policy: Pregnancy counseling regarding all available options must be provided to a pregnant youth as soon as possible, but no more than 1 week after pregnancy diagnosis. Within 2 weeks after the pregnancy diagnosis and prior to any termination occurring, the case manager or a designee must interview the pregnant youth to confirm that she has received all the information she feels she needs to make an informed decision about her pregnancy and has not been coerced, persuaded, or improperly influenced to maintain or terminate her pregnancy. The youth must also be offered the opportunity to meet with a health-care provider, counselor, or her attorney if she wants additional assistance in the decision-making process. If she chooses to terminate the pregnancy, appropriate termination services must be made available to her as soon as possible.
A minor parent may file a proceeding in court for support on behalf of her child.
A father who is in foster care may be able to visit his child or to seek custody of the child if the court determines it is in the child's best interests.
Placement Options
Citation: Code of Rules Tit. 18, § 449.4; OCFS Foster Care Practice Guide, Ch. 16
A parenting youth and the child of a parenting youth may be placed in a supervised setting, which may include supervised independent living units. In addition to general safety requirements, independent living units that provide housing to parenting youth and their children must comply with the following additional conditions:
- No peeling or damaged paint or plaster may be present.
- Access to outdoor play space must be available.
- Radiators and piping accessible to children must be covered or have a barrier to protect children.
- Porches, decks, and stairways must have railings with a barrier to prevent children from falling.
- Adequate barriers to prevent children from gaining access to unsafe, dangerous, or hazardous areas or devices, such as fireplaces, wood burning stoves, gas space heaters, pools, spa pools, hot tubs, and second floor and above windows, must be provided.
- Protective caps, covers, or permanently installed obstruction devices on all electrical outlets accessible to children must be present.
- All matches, lighters, medicines, drugs, cleaning material, detergents, aerosol cans, beauty aids, and poisonous or toxic materials and plants must be safely stored and must be used in such a way that they will not contaminate play surfaces, food and food preparation areas, or constitute a hazard to children, and other such materials must be kept in a place inaccessible to children.
- Hand bags, backpacks, briefcases, plastic bags, toys and objects small enough for children to swallow must not be accessible to children.
- Each child must have a separate bed or crib, as appropriate.
In policy: Minor parents and their children should be placed in the same foster family home or residential facility, and custody of the minor parent's child should remain with the minor parent. The same principle should be applied if a foster child gives birth while in foster care.
The local department of social services (LDSS) may seek temporary legal custody of a minor parent's child if the LDSS determines that the minor parent poses a danger or threat to her child's well-being or the minor parent voluntarily relinquishes custody of her child.
Health Services
Citation: Code of Rules Tit. 18, § 449.4; OCFS Foster Care Practice Guide, Ch. 16
The agency managing the supervised setting placement must provide preventive health care and programs to give the youth an understanding of appropriate health and behavioral health-care literacy, including, but not limited to, navigation of medical systems, routine health-care standards, and nonroutine or emergency/urgent care experiences, including accessing preventive health care in the community when available. These services may include, but are not limited to, sexual and reproductive health and, when relevant, parenting skills.
In policy: Pregnancy testing must be provided to a female youth in foster care whenever a pregnancy is reasonably suspected due to late or missed menses or for some other reasons. If the youth's pregnancy test is positive or it has come to the attention of a foster parent or other agency staff that a youth is pregnant, the case manager must be notified within 24 hours.
Prenatal and postpartum care must be provided to youth who choose to continue their pregnancies. The first prenatal care appointment should occur as soon as possible after the youth has decided to continue her pregnancy, preferably within 1 week. The caseworker should monitor the youth's medical care during and after the pregnancy to verify that the youth is attending recommended appointments. No medical information regarding the youth's pregnancy may be disclosed to the youth's biological or foster parents without the youth's written consent.
Parent Preparation for Expectant Youth
Citation: Code of Rules Tit. 18, § 449.4
Supervised setting programs must provide youth with opportunities to receive instruction on parenting skills, healthy pregnancy skills, child development education, and any other individualized and developmentally appropriate training deemed necessary for a parenting youth and his or her child.
The authorized agency must make available services to pregnant or parenting youth and their children that support the youth's ability to parent effectively and to support the developmental needs of the youth and the family.
Education and Services to Support Parenting Youth
Citation: Code of Rules Tit. 18, § 449.4
Supervised setting programs must provide youth with opportunities to achieve positive outcomes and make successful transitions to adulthood. The services provided may include any of the following:
- Employment skills/training opportunities and the development of work ethics, including services that develop a youth's ability to find, apply for and retain appropriate employment as well as employment programs/vocational training that help youth gain experience and skills in a specific field or profession
- Educational support, including secondary academic services designed to help a youth complete high school or complete classes for the New York State high school equivalency exam or postsecondary services designed to help a youth enter or complete a college or vocational program
For information on assisting any youth in foster care finish high school, see Educational Supports for Youth in Foster Care - New York | Child Welfare Information Gateway.
Economic and Concrete Supports
Citation: Code of Rules Tit. 18, § 449.4
The pregnant or parenting youth in placement must have a plan that includes developmentally appropriate child care for the child and is established in consultation with authorized agency staff.
Services and Supports for Parenting Youth That Promote Self-Sufficiency
Citation: Code of Rules Tit. 18, § 449.4
Supervised setting programs must provide youth with opportunities to achieve positive outcomes and make successful transitions to adulthood. The services provided may include any of the following:
- Efforts to actively involve the youth in identifying, establishing, and maintaining connections with adult permanency resources
- Housing support, including working with the youth to look for, secure, and maintain stable housing
- Budgeting and financial literacy skills, including, but not limited to, an assessment of the youth's income and expenses to prepare for self-sufficiency
- Home management skills, including, but not limited to, shopping, cooking, and maintaining the living environment
- Access to community resources, including, but not limited to, medical, mental health, youth development, civic, social, and other supports that provide the youth knowledge and awareness of his or her neighborhood and community
Foster Care Prevention Strategy for any Child Born to the Youth
Citation: OCFS Foster Care Practice Guide, Ch. 16
The minor parent in foster care may temporarily relinquish legal custody of the child by signing a voluntary agreement. As a matter of policy and practice, LDSS are discouraged from taking custody by voluntary agreement, and a minor parent cannot be forced to sign a voluntary placement of her child. Caseworkers should explore with minor parents in foster care what supports and services are needed to allow custody to remain with them and then make reasonable efforts to provide these supports and services.
When a youth in foster care is pregnant, the caseworker should develop a placement plan with the expectant mother prior to the birth of the child. This may help avoid the separation of the minor mother and baby. If a minor parent and her baby are not placed together, a caseworker must document why it was not possible to place the parent and child together or why it was necessary to seek care and custody of the child.
Reasonable efforts must be made to prevent the minor parent from relinquishing custody, and these efforts must be documented in the case record. Caseworkers should consult with supervisory personnel and LDSS attorneys for help in making appropriate decisions regarding the children of minor parents in foster care, obtaining custody of such children, and determining the appropriate placement venue.