This presentation was featured in a webinar that explored evidence-based approaches to engage youth and young adults from foster care in the prevention of unintended or untimely pregnancies. The webinar also highlighted effective supports for young people in care as parents as they tend to their own developmental needs.

1. Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting Support:
What Works For Young People In Care
0

2. 1
Questions
• If you experience technical difficulties during this
webinar, visit www.aecf.org/webex for guidance. If
you still have trouble, notify us using the chat or
Q&A window, or contact WebEx technical support
at 1-866-229-3239.
• If you do not see the Q&A window, make sure the
Q&A icon at the top of that column is blue (see
image to left; icon circled in red). If it is not blue,
click the icon, and the window should appear.
• You can type questions for presenters in the Q&A
window at any time during the webinar.
• The webinar is being recorded and will be available
after the presentation.

3. 2
• Opening
• Context Setting
• What Works: Pregnancy Prevention
Spotlight — Love Notes
• What Works: Supporting Parents
Spotlight — Co-Parenting
• Q&A
Agenda

4. 3
Presenters
Sarah Morrison
Director of Learning
and Evidence
Center for the Study
of Social Policy
Tammi Fleming,
PhD, CHES
Senior Associate
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Sabine Chery,
LMSW
Assistant
Commissioner
New York City
Administration for
Children Services
Molly Casey,
MS
Teen Parent
Connection
Administrator
Multi-Agency
Alliance for Children

5. 1s
4
Who is on the webinar today?
q Jim Casey Initiative site Representative
q Jim Casey Initiative staff member, consultant or liaison
q Casey Foundation’s Young Parents Workgroup
q Expectant and Parenting Youth Learning Collaborative
q Other
Participant Poll 5s10s15s30s45s

6. RESULT STATEMENT:
All young people should have the information and skills to make
informed reproductive health decisions. Young people who are
expecting or parenting should have the supports, resources and
opportunities to facilitate successful child rearing.
STRATEGY 1
Increase ability of young people
to prevent unplanned or
untimely pregnancies, make
informed family planning
decisions and be prepared for
parenthood.
STRATEGY 2
Provide supports to young
mothers and fathers to ensure
well-being for themselves and
their children.
5
Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting Support

7. Setting the Context for
Youth in or Transitioning from Care
SARAH MORRISON
DIRECTOR, LEARNING AND EVIDENCE
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY
6

8. Responding to Their Developmental Needs
Developmental
Domains
• Physical, sexual and
reproductive health
• Cognitive and emotional
development
• Identity development
• Social development
• Preparation for self-
sufficiency and parenthood
7

9. Strengthening Protective and Promotive Factors
• Knowledge of adolescent development
• Social connections
• Cognitive and emotional competence
• Concrete supports in times of need
• Resilience
8

10. Pregnancy Prevention:
What Works for Young People in Care
9

11. 10
Example #1: Power Through Choices (PTC)
— My Life, My Choices
Program
Information
ImplementationEvidence
of Effectiveness
• Oklahoma Institute
for Child Advocacy
• Sexuality education
and skill building
• Psychosocial theories
of behavior
• 2nd edition
• Interactive learning
to avoid risk-taking
• 5-year multistate
demonstration and
evaluation
• Implementation and
impact evaluations
• Reducing teen
pregnancy and
associated sexual
risk behaviors
• Two trained facilitators
• Fidelity monitoring
tools
• Small groups (8-20)
• M/F: Ages 13-18
• 10 90-minute sessions
over five weeks
• Wide range of settings
SOURCE: Power Through Choices

12. 11
Example #2: Treatment Foster Care Oregon
Program
Information
ImplementationEvidence
of Effectiveness
• Patricia Chamberlain,
Oregon Social
Learning Center
• Increase normative
and prosocial
behaviors
• Parent and foster
parent training, family
therapy
• Skills training for child
• Eight randomized
control trials and
numerous studies
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Immediate and long-
term outcomes
• Adaptation for regular
state-supported foster
care system
• Certified trainer or
supervised TFC
consultant
• Early (12-14 years
old) and late (15-18
years old)
SOURCE: Treatment Foster Care Oregon

13. 12
Example #3:
When You Decide: A Judge’s Guide to Pregnancy
Prevention Among Youth in Foster Care
Program
Information
ImplementationEvidence
of Effectiveness
• National Campaign to
Prevent Teen and
Unplanned Pregnancy
with National Council
of Juvenile and Family
Court Judges
• Toolkit for family and
juvenile court judges
and staff
• Research-
and science-based
• Current evaluation of
training and toolkit
Juvenile and Family
Court Judges
• Preliminary findings
• Support judges’ key
staff to implement and
use
• Bench tools and
scripts
• Community
Resources
SOURCE: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

14. 13
Example #4:
Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy
Information ImplementationGuidance
• SB 245
(Four provisions)
• California’s Plan for
the Prevention of
Unintended
Pregnancy for Youth
and Non-Minor
Dependents
• $2.9 million toward
implementation
• County guidance
• Guidance from
California Department
of Social Services for
residential facilities and
resource families on
healthy sexual
development and
pregnancy prevention
for youth in foster care
• Foster Youth Bill of
Rights
• Universal strategies
• Age- and
developmentally
appropriate strategies
• Stakeholder roles
• Recommended duties
and responsibilities
SOURCE: National Center For Youth Law

15. Love Notes
MOLLY CASEY
TEEN PARENT CONNECTION ADMINISTRATOR
MULTI-AGENCY ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN
14

16. 15
What is Multi-Agency Alliance for Children?
• Collaboration of nine agencies
• Placement and wraparound support
• Ages 0 to 21 (*16-20)
• Challenging cases in child welfare and behavioral health
What is Teen Parent Connection?
• Response to youth voice
• Collaboration: EmpowerMEnt/Teen parents/Division of Family
and Children Services and others
• Filled a gap in service
• Serves half of teen parents in foster care
Love Notes Program Spotlight
Multi-Agency Alliance for Children

17. 16
Love Notes Program Spotlight
Multi-Agency Alliance for Children
TPC services
• Supportive life coaching
• Reproductive health training
• Educational success services
TPC population demographics
• History (sexual experiences, school disruptions, neglect
and abuse and criminal involvement)
• FY 2016
o ~ age of sexual encounter and first intercourse 12-13
o 39% had first child between 13 and 15
• 68% black, 23% white, 3% Hispanic,
3% Native American, 3% mixed race

18. 17
Why are we focusing on this population?
• Rate of subsequent pregnancies
• Primary pregnancies
• Youth Support Initiative
The Love Notes Program
– Vulnerable, high-risk audience
– Wise choices about partners, sex, relationships, pregnancy
– Integrates relationship skills with pregnancy prevention and
workforce readiness
– Practical strategies for motivating change
– Youth-friendly curriculum
Love Notes Program Spotlight
Multi-Agency Alliance for Children

19. 18
What behaviors do you want to address with Love Notes?
• Relationship issues are at the core of behavioral and emotional
challenges, placement disruptions, antagonism between
youth/worker/provider, impacts permanency
• Promotive and protective factors
• Capacity building for providers
Give us more background on the selection of Love Notes.
• Poor relationships are consistent barriers in preventing
subsequent pregnancies
• Comprehensive approach
• Youth-friendly
Love Notes Program Spotlight
Multi-Agency Alliance for Children

20. 19
Were you in responsible for selection of the program?
• Long-term life coaches
• Providers
• Youth: “Nothing about us without us”
What other things you considered?
• Current service array
What did you need to do to prepare for implementation?
• Decide on training logistics and cost
What type of data will you collect to track program outcomes?
• Efforts to outcomes
• Improved goal setting and monitoring
Love Notes Program Spotlight
Multi-Agency Alliance for Children

21. 20
How will you know if the outcomes are on track?
• Monthly reports
• Self reports on behavioral changes
• Goal adjustments
• Are there any fidelity measures?
• Learn more during and after training
What did you think about before introducing
to staff and population?
• Life coaches and YSPs are part-time
o Best training options
o Budget for training
o Youth input: tools to build relationships
Love Notes Program Spotlight
Multi-Agency Alliance for Children

22. 21
• Multi-Agency Alliance for Children or Teen Parent Connection
http://maac4kids.org/
• Love Notes or The Dibble Institute
http://www.dibbleinstitute.org/magento/index.php/curricula/love-
notes-program-kit.html
• When You Decide: A Judges Guide to Pregnancy Prevention Among
Foster Youth https://thenationalcampaign.org/resource/when-you-
decide
• Power Through Choices http://www.powerthroughchoices.org/about/
• Senate Bill 245 and additional resources at National Youth Law
Center https://youthlaw.org/policy/reproductive-and-sexual-health-
access-for-youth-in-foster-care/
• Treatment Foster Care Oregon http://www.tfcoregon.com/what-is-
tfco/
To Learn More About the Pregnancy Prevention Programs,
Tools and Policies Reviewed

23. 22
If we successfully delay birth for youth in care
from 17 or earlier to 20 or 21, we can reduce the
foster care placement rate by 4%
q True
q False
Participant Poll

24. Parenting Support:
What Works for Young People in Care
23

25. 24
Parenting Support: Best Policies, Programs and Practices
Strengthening Parenting Skills
• Whole Family Foster Care
• Personal Best for Pregnant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care
Valuing Young Fathers
• Intentional engagement
• Co-parenting

26. 25
Example #1:
Whole Family Foster Care
Program
Information
ImplementationEvidence
of Effectiveness
• Shared Family Care
designed to help
families achieve
permanency by
placing whole family
in “mentor homes”
• California established
Whole Family Foster
Care for Expectant
and Parenting Youth
• Shared Family Care
1997-2002:
87 families in California
and Colorado placed in
mentor homes
o Mean age of
applicant parent:
28
o 12% were 18 or
younger
o 40% had become
a parent at 18 or
younger
• Sites: Multiple states
• 1996 Manual for
Shared Family Care
• Whole Family Foster
Care:
o Foster parent
training and
certification
o Careful matching
o Shared
responsibility
agreement
between youth
and foster parentSOURCE:
http://www.jose-design.com/jbf/cafosteringconnections/special-parenting.html

27. 26
Example #2:
Personal Best for Pregnant
And Parenting Youth in Foster Care
Program
Information
ImplementationEvidence
of Effectiveness
• 2008 implementation
evaluation by
Mathematica Policy
Research
• Young parents reported
improvement in:
• child development
and needs
• relationships
• Problem-solving
• Curriculum
• Guidebook
• Staff training
• Data collection to
assess changes in
knowledge, attitudes
and self-efficacy
• Focus group and
interviews to ensure
fidelity, needed
adaptations
• 22-session group
program for young
mothers in foster care
• Designed to improve
coping, communication,
problem solving and
goal-setting skills
SOURCE: Ackerman Institute for the Family

28. 27
Example #3:
Young Father Engagement
Program
Information
Implementation
• Sites apply checklist:
o Ohio
o Children’s
Institute in
Pittsburgh
o Community
Action (WI)
o Embrace Wichita
• Checklist available
free online
• Father-Friendly check-up
for child welfare agencies
• Comprehensive checklist
helps organizations take
positive approach to
creating environments that
involve fathers and foster
healthy child development
SOURCES: The National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System, National Fatherhood
Initiative, American Humane Association and the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law

29. 28
Example #4:
Young Parenthood Program
Program
Information
ImplementationEvidence
of Effectiveness
• Focused on development
of interpersonal skills
needed for positive co-
parenting and parenting
• Five phases over 10
weeks, 75-minute
sessions
• Delivered to couples in
prenatal clinics,
community settings,
participant homes, etc.
• Evaluated 2004-2007
using a random
assignment of 105
pregnant adolescents and
their partners
o Fathers showed
more positive
parenting
o Efficacy couples-
focused, co-
parenting support
SOURCE: Paul Florsheim, PhD, University of Wisconsin
• Trained counselors:
masters-level clinicians,
experienced working with
adolescents
• Clear protocol
• Supervision by licensed
clinical psychologist
• Manual

30. Co-Parenting
SABINE CHERY
ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
NEW YORK CITY ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN SERVICES
29

31. 30
What is the co-parenting workshop?
• Eight weekly 3-hour sessions for young people in foster
care and the co-parent of their child
What are the key topics and activities in the workshop?
• Child and youth development
• Communication
• Family recreational outings and events
Where are the workshop sessions held?
- Community-based organizations closer to where the young
parents live
Co-Parenting Spotlight:
New York City Administration for Children

32. 31
How do you engage the young parents to attend the workshops?
• Members of the Young Parent’s Speaker’s Bureau (YPSB) reach
out to young mothers and fathers in and out of foster care
• YPSB are former foster youth who are young parents employed
as consultants to ACS
• Provide child care, transportation and a meal
Co-Parenting Spotlight:
New York City Administration for Children

33. 32
How do you know these workshops are working?
• Weekly session formal feedback from participants
• Participant Pre- and Post- “tests” for each 8-week round
• Tracking indicators of the following:
o Child safety,
o Youth education,
o Child enrollment in early childhood education/child care
and
o Subsequent births
Co-Parenting Spotlight:
New York City Administration for Children

34. 33
How did you get to where you are with this strategy?
• Engaged community partner who was already
a champion for young fathers
• Developed curriculum with community partner,
assisted by CSSP
• Piloted, revised and continued to refine
• Built staff capacity to deliver
How will you sustain?
• Train the Trainer curriculum and delivery to 10 provider
agencies through tapping into existing contracts
Co-Parenting Spotlight:
New York City Administration for Children

35. 34
• The Center for the Study of Social Policy has produced several
documents compiling the available knowledge, including:
o Twice the Opportunity: Policy recommendations to support expectant
and parenting youth in foster care and their children
o Changing Systems and Practices to Improve Outcomes for Young
Fathers, Their Children and Their Families 2017
o Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care: A Resource Guide
2014
• All can be found at https://www.cssp.org/reform/child-welfare/expectant-
parenting-youth-in-foster-care/tools-resources-research/tools-resources
To Learn More About Parenting Support Policies,
Programs and Practices

36. 35
Of the topics covered today, what would like to know
more about? Select all that are of interest.
q Developmental needs of adolescents
q Protective and promotive factors
q Strategies and programs aimed at preventing unplanned
pregnancies among youth in foster care
q Strategies and programs aimed at supporting young
parents who are in foster care
q Love Notes
q Co-Parenting
Participant Poll

37. 36
Q&A

38. 37