Supports and Services for Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care - Rhode Island

Date: October 2025

Youth's Parental Rights
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

In policy: Expectant and parenting youth are informed of their legal rights regarding the custody of their children and Department of Children, Youth and Families policy. All dependent pregnant and parenting youth must be provided with information about their rights and the duties and responsibilities of the department. Separation of a child from a parenting youth is prohibited for reasons other than abuse or neglect.

Young adult fathers and other nonbirthing partners often do not receive the same support and resources as mothers and other birth-giving parents. The primary service worker treats nonbirthing partners as equals who need the same support and resources as the birth-giving parent. They will likely also benefit from resources explicitly tailored to fathers and their unique challenges, such as navigating biases, feeling left out of parenting decisions, and experiencing pressure to provide financially.

The primary service worker promotes responsible fatherhood and paternal engagement by doing the following: 

  • Indicating in the case record when a youth in out-of-home care becomes a father 
  • Identifying the relationship between expectant youth parents 
  • Linking youth fathers to services that help them understand their legal rights and responsibilities, establish legal paternity, and adjust to the parenting role 
  • Assisting pregnant youth to notify birth fathers and engage them in service planning when appropriate 

Placement Options
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

A child must not be separated from the child's minor parents due solely to the parent's age, involvement with the child welfare system, or mental health status unless it impairs his or her ability to safely care for the child, or as a means of obtaining services or financial support for the children.

When a parenting youth and his or her child live in the same placement, and there is no need to file a dependency on that child, the department considers the child's home to be that of the dependent youth. The department also completes a separate title IV-E eligibility determination.

Health Services 
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

The department is responsible for ensuring health-care services are provided to a youth in its care who is pregnant or suspects they are pregnant. If a youth is pregnant, the primary service worker makes referrals to community-based organizations as needed to support the physical and emotional needs of expectant and/or parenting youth.

Before childbirth, the primary service worker connects the youth to timely, ongoing, relevant, and accessible services appropriate to the youth's needs that address the following: 

  • Prenatal health care, including travel to appointments, includes the following: 
    • Genetic risk identification 
    • Food and nutrition 
    • Mental health care, including information, screening, and treatment for prenatal depression
    • Substance use conditions 
    • Medication use 
    • Smoking cessation 
  • Signing up for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting classes 
  • Establishing a birth plan that outlines labor and delivery preferences
  • If applicable, determine the post-birth placement for the youth and her child 

When making plans during a pregnancy, the primary service worker ensures that both partners are actively involved in planning and decision-making, regardless of whether they are the one to give birth.

Following childbirth, the primary service worker promotes child and parental well-being and ensures youth receive timely postnatal care and support related to the following: 

  • Postpartum health care 
  • Postpartum depression, including screening for and addressing changes in the birthing parent's mood and emotional state, behavior, and coping strategies 
  • Breastfeeding education and assistance 
  • Pediatric care, including well-baby visits and immunizations 
  • Family planning 

Parent Preparation for Expectant Youth
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

Parenting education is another important form of preparation that can set expectant and parenting youth up for success. All new parents need education on how to care for a newborn and be a successful parent.

Throughout the pregnancy and following childbirth, the primary service worker ensures that expectant and parenting youth are helped to develop skills and knowledge rrelated to the following: 

  • Basic caregiving routines 
  • Child growth and development 
  • Meeting children's social, emotional, and physical health needs 
  • Environmental safety and injury prevention 
  • Safe practices for sleeping and bathing 
  • Parent-child interactions and bonding 
  • Age-appropriate behavioral expectations and appropriate discipline 
  • Family planning 
  • Establishing a functioning support network of family members or caring adults 

Education and Services to Support Parenting Youth
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

The primary service worker assists expectant and parenting youth to enroll in educational or vocational programs that support and accommodate the circumstances of expectant and parenting youth.

For information on assisting any youth in foster care complete high school, see Educational Supports for Youth in Foster Care - Rhode Island | Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Economic and Concrete Supports 
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

The primary service worker assists expectant and parenting youth to obtain assistance that will support them in caring for their children and work towards financial independence, including the following:

  • Public benefits such as Medicaid; Women, Infants, and Children; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
  • Transportation
  • Maternal and child health programs 
  • Legal advocacy 
  • Affordable and quality child care 
  • Community resources, such as free clinics 
  • Child support

Services and Supports for Parenting Youth That Promote Self-Sufficiency
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

Transition planning is vital for expectant and parenting youth who are on track to age out of the child welfare system to ensure they are prepared for independent living. For youth who are either expecting or parenting, the primary service worker must make every effort to prepare them for independent living since they will be responsible for caring for and providing for a dependent.

Foster Care Prevention Strategy for any Child Born to the Youth
Citation: Oper. Proc. #700.0085

The department promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of youth in out-of-home care who are expectant or parenting. The department makes every effort to ensure that expectant youth in care experience healthy births and develop the skills needed for personal functioning and parenthood. Strong collaboration between the department, programs, and individual service providers is essential for offering effective, comprehensive support to enhance protective factors for youth in care who are pregnant or parenting.

It is the priority of the department to keep families together. Therefore, preventing maltreatment is a critical element of working with parenting youth. Under the 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act, pregnant and parenting youth are identified as a population that is eligible for Federal reimbursement for prevention services, including in-home, parent skill-based programs and mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services.