Needs and Issues of Teen Parents

Introduction
During an internship at an adolescent parenting program, this social work student collaborated with the social work supervisor and colleagues to formulate a resource packet which would include donations and brochures about the resources available to pregnant and parenting in a local county. By collaborating with colleagues and the social work supervisor, this social work student discovered that this population faced barriers when attempting to receive services. This population appears to have problems getting their questions answered by agencies in the community in ways which can be easily understood. The information received encouraged this student to design a brochure regarding how to make professional phone calls to businesses and agencies in the community and a resource packet of agencies in the community that offer services to this population. The agency’s intention was to distribute the completed resource packets to current clients in the agency and new clients that enroll. Additional resource packets would have been created, if needed, by the social workers in the agency. This social work student would have provided a master copy to each social worker and the social work supervisor. Due to funding issues within non-profit organizations, agencies in the county were unable to provide brochures and donations needed to complete the resource packets.

Statement of Need
There is a concern that the parenting teen population of the United States is not receiving enough moral support and information regarding resources in the community to improve their lifestyle and to empower them to make positive choices/decisions. According to Mahler (1991), “Young women who drop out of school are about 50% more likely to have a teenage birth than those who remain in school” (para. 1). In addition, those who actually return back to school after having a baby are an even smaller percentage, thus leading to a significant amount of young parents without a high school diploma or the equivalent such as a General Education Development (GED) certificate (Mahler, 1991).

According to Kieselica and Pfaller (2001), the first step to helping teenage parents is to clarify attitudes about them. Prior to working with teenage parents, educators and counselors need to address their biases towards this population. The concern of those who assist the teen parent population is that, “the parenting teen population is not as self-sufficient as other agencies would like them to be” (Eligibility Social Worker, personal communication, December 09, 2005). However, without knowledge of the resources in the community and the lack of skills to advocate for themselves, this population goes unheard.

Description of the Intervention
Originally this social work student was planning on developing a resource packet as her community project. The packets would have been geared towards my clients who are either teen parents (male/female) or pregnant teens. This social work student had planed to collect useful resources from the community and bind it into a single packet and make it available to clients who are enrolled in the program. The completed packets most likely would have consisted of information regarding education, job skills, housing, transportation, health/nutrition, and government funded programs. The goal in providing these resources was to empower clients to educate themselves and to take the initiative in finding/applying for resources that will potentially better themselves and their child’s life.

Due to funding issues within non-profit organizations, agencies in the county were unable to provide brochures and donations needed to complete the resource packets. Furthermore, the agency in which this social worker intern was placed, also had limited funding to provide supplies to make this project feasible.

This social work student created a new project to become more connected with the population. This was the planning and coordination of a Babies and Book Event (BABE) set tentatively for mid May. BABEs are events that occur every three to four months and are sponsored by Reading In Families (RIF) grant. This social work student took on the role of preparing for the event by gathering the resources needed to make the event a success. If the attendees’ conversed with one another, interacted with their children, completed the craft project planned for the event, and took a book or two home with them to read to their children, then the BABE was considered successful.

Evaluation of the Intervention
The resource bags, if completed, would have the capacity to benefit pregnant and parenting teens in significant ways. Primarily, the resource packets would have educated this population about services in the community and provided them with donations helpful in raising a child. Secondly, the resource packets would have encouraged empowerment by providing this population with the tools needed for applying and being granted services with minimal interaction and help from a social worker. Additionally, this social work student had hoped that the material provided to this population would help increase self esteem and further encourage this population to continue advocating for their needs and wants.

This social work student felt as if the BABE event was a success. The event gave the social workers a chance to communicate with their clients outside of the typical, non-personal, monthly home visits. The event was geared towards getting to know one another and gave this social work student a chance to discuss the importance of reading to children. The event had 13 attendees whom interacted well with one another and appeared to enjoy the craft project this social work student planed. When the event came to an end, all the books provided for the BABE had been taken by attendees, snacks had been consumed, teen mothers interacted with one another, and flowers had been potted.

Reflections on the Project
The community project was difficult for this social work student due to the financial constraints of the agency and others. Although the community project was delayed, the process of attempting to gather resources from the community and collaboratively working with colleagues taught this social work student a significant amount about the art of compromise, brain storming, patience and letter writing. This social worker is confident that the ideas gathered by the social work team will be put to use at a later date and provide the parenting and teen population an array of beneficial information.

References
Kieselica, M.S., & Pfaller, J. (2001). Helping teenage arents: The independent and collaborative roles of counselor educators and school counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 72, 42-48.
Mahler, K. (1999). Dropping out of school increases chance for birth for white and hispanics. Family Planning Perspectives, 31, 153-156.