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Childcare Programs Help Teen Parents Stay in School
by Chris Hayhurst, 11.11.05
"I couldn't leave school. I was in serious trouble." |
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Years ago, long before she started high school, Kate — a bright, talkative overachiever with a knack for everything from basketball to math — had a vision of her future. In it she saw a varsity athlete, a straight-A student, a college scholarship, and a career in either medicine or biotechnology. It would be simple, she thought: Work hard and the rest will fall into place. "Was I naïve," she recalls. "Little did I know."
Following a brief fling with an older student, Kate became pregnant her sophomore year in high school. "I was 15," says Kate. "I had no idea what I was getting into."
Kate decided to continue the pregnancy and have the child, and that summer became the mother of a brand new baby boy. At the time, she was excited. But quite understandably, she was also terrified. "I didn't know what to do," she says. "I couldn't leave school. It would be the end of my life. My parents couldn't help. I was in serious trouble."
Torn Between Two Worlds
Kate, who has since resolved her crisis with the help of relatives, friends, and a local low-cost childcare service, is among the thousands of U.S. high school students who become parents every year. Kate was lucky — her son is healthy, and now she's even looking at colleges.
But not all teen parents are this fortunate. Faced with the daunting task of juggling the challenges of parenting with the obligations of school, many teen parents, in desperation, drop out — a move that can undermine their future financial success and personal fulfillment. But their children need them, and they can't afford to pay for professional childcare. As far as they know, they have no choice.
Helping Out
For many teen parents, however, help is available — they just have to know where to find it. Thanks to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a childcare-services funding program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, many states provide money to teenage parents who need it to be able to afford childcare so they can stay in school.
Various other state-, county-, and city-based programs provide similar childcare funds or services for teenage parents. In New York City, for example, the Living for the Young Family through Education (LYFE) program is a school-based service providing free childcare during the school day in at least 40 different schools. Just a short drive north, the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care oversees that state's Teen Parent Child Care program (TPCC), which helps teen parents find free childcare, transportation to and from childcare services, and other parent-friendly resources.
Elsewhere, in Alexandria, VA, the city-subsidized Early Childhood Development program offers teenage parents similar help. And at the Teen Parent Project in Cook County, IL, teens are eligible for free childcare support and other services while they attend school.
Teen Parent Project spokesperson Valicia Johnson says many of the teens they serve have nowhere else to turn. "We find childcare services in their neighborhood and help them find ways to pay for it," says Johnson. "We also have a job-referral program that helps them find jobs near school or home. And we work with them to see if they qualify for food-stamp benefits and low-cost medical care."
Where to Go
Depending on where you live, there may be low-cost childcare services available in your area, too. To find out, the following national programs are a good place to start:
- Child Care Aware (1-800-424-2246)
Call this service for the name and number of your local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency. The Web site includes a search engine that uses your zip code to find your local agency.
- National Child Care Information Center (1-800-616-2242)
A program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, the center maintains a list of state and regional offices providing information on local subsidized childcare services.
- Head Start
Another program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start provides education and early childhood development services for low-income families with children ages five and younger. Use the Web site's search engine to find Head Start services in your area.
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