Navigating the child welfare system while expecting or raising a child can be challenging. Expectant and parenting youth in care have unique needs related to their physical, emotional, social, and financial health that require individualized support. Because of their involvement with child welfare and their age, they also often face oversurveillance and scrutiny that other parents do not experience.
Child welfare professionals and others working with expectant and parenting youth should partner with these young people and offer services and supports that are strength-based, consistent, and unbiased. They should also respect the young person’s autonomy to make decisions for their family.
Child welfare professionals can build resilience and social connections among all young parents, including fathers, by offering supports that enhance parent education, parent-child relationships, economic self-sufficiency, and two-generation outcomes. With strong support networks and equitable access to services, expectant and parenting youth in care can be better prepared to balance their school, work, and home lives and overcome challenges.
On this page, find resources and information about expectant and parenting youth in care.
Adjust the filters below to refine your list of resources.
Can’t find what you need in the filtered results? Try searching our Library catalog to access a large selection of peer-reviewed journal articles, evaluation reports, Children’s Bureau grant materials, research studies, and more.
Featured
Expecting and Parenting in Care: Tips for Youth
Provides information for expecting and parenting youth about government assistance, parenting supports, medical services, and other resources. It also has information about options and rights related to pregnancy and parenting.
Improving Services for Expectant and Parenting Youth in Care
Explore strategies for caseworkers, agencies, and other youth-serving professionals to better support expectant and parenting youth and their families including case-level and systemwide strategies that may contribute to overall improved outcomes.
Planned Parenthood
Provides online access to information, services, and supports on reproductive health care and sex education including the ability to schedule virtual appointments or locate a local provider.
Episode 54: Supporting Parenting and Expectant Teens in Foster Care
This podcast episode features a conversation to help States and agencies leverage the provisions of Family First Prevention Services Act to support parenting and expectant teens in foster care.
For Dads
Provides resources for dads to remain involved in their child's life and be an essential part of their development.
Health Coverage If You're Pregnant, Plan to Get Pregnant, or Recently Gave Birth
Offers information on health insurance for young parents and discusses health insurance options including the Marketplace, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Know Your Rights Guide: Chapter 15: Expectant and Parenting Youth
Presents guidance and answers to frequently asked questions about the legal rights of young parents in foster care.
Addressing the Needs of Pregnant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care: A Primer on Interagency Collaboration for Children’s Bureau Grantees
Explains the services offered to pregnant and parenting youth in out-of-home care by the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood and the Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program.
Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care: Systems Leaders Data Tool Kit
Explains how child welfare leaders can better support expectant, pregnant, and parenting youth in foster care and offers recommendations for improving policies around working with this population.