|
A Resource Guide of Best Practices
for Pregnant and Parenting Teen Programs
Child Care
Sections
Rationale
Best Practices
Rationale
Child care is an obvious necessity if teen parents are to stay in school.
Reliable, quality child care will encourage the teen parent's school
attendance, providing a safe and nurturing environment for the child,
help model appropriate child care practices and deter abuse and neglect
through daily observation and intervention with the young family. Teen
parents often need guidance in identifying and accessing child care
providers and assistance programs.
It is recommended that children be cared for in a licensed
child care setting that meets minimum quality and safety
standards.
Teen parent program staff need to be knowledgeable about the options
for linking teen parents and their children to quality child care
programs. The three most commonly used models are described in this
section. Regardless of the type of child care arrangement, it is
important to pay particular attention to factors that enhance quality,
including size, structure, environment and caring, competent staff.
Child Care Alternatives
On-Site Child Care Center
This type of child care center, located within the school building,
can increase access to quality childcare and regular school attendance.
Staff have increased opportunities to model positive parenting skills
for teen parents and can monitor children's growth and development
closely. Centers can be operated by the school or by a child care
provider and can accept the children of community members or school
staff.
Programs are encouraged to obtain a license so they can access
financial assistance available to teen parents. High standards of
quality should be maintained.
Community Child Care Center
These centers are located throughout most communities and offer
many of the same services as on-site centers. They are particularly
advantageous if located near the school, close to the teen parent's
home or along convenient public transportation routes. Some
communities have many centers to choose from while others have
few centers conveniently located and available for use. Staff should
encourage students to be sure that the community center they select
is state licensed and regulated.
Family Child Care Homes
This type of child care is also located either near the school
or near the teen parent's home. This arrangement usually involves
a smaller ratio of children per caregiver, 1:4 to 1:6 including
the provider's own children, with no more than two children under
the age of two. It may allow for a more personal relationship with
the child care worker and an opportunity for the worker to serve
as a mentor to the teen parent. Family child care homes should be
regulated by the Department of Public Welfare, and providers are
required to obtain a specified number of training hours per year.
Relative Care
This less formal arrangement involves an agreement between the
teen parent and a relative, usually the teen parent's mother, to
provide child care. It is unregulated and requires no particular
training. Relative care may become limited for TANF families due
to the work requirement of welfare reform. Many mothers of teen
parents who were previously unemployed and receiving public
assistance will be required to obtain employment, restricting
their availability to provide child care.
Funding
Child care can become quite an expense regardless of the type
of setting selected. Teen parents are often unemployed or have
only part-time jobs, and may have little financial support from
their families. However, there are a variety of funding sources
available to teen parents, and many school districts have devised
creative means for funding child care. Among those
sources are the following:
Child Care and Development Block Grant Funds
Child care allowances for eligible families are available
through the local County Assistance Office (CAO) and the Local
Management Agency (LMA). The LMA is a resource and referral
center that helps families find, select and pay for day care
services. The LMA determines a family's eligibility for a child
care subsidy based on income and need.
Grants
Teen parenting programs may want to pursue private or other sources
of funding to create unique child care models in their school
districts or communities. Application for grants can be made in
collaboration with community agencies or through the school district
alone. One example of this is in Pittsburgh. The Heinz Endowment and
the United Way of Allegheny County made grants available through the
Early Childhood Initiative for the creation of quality early childhood
programs including child care.
Sliding Scale Fees
For those teen parents who do not qualify for subsidy, some
child care facilities will accept payment on a sliding scale
according to family income. In some cases, the fee can be as
little as $5 per week
Scholarships
Programs secure funding from private resources to be used as
scholarships for students who cannot afford the cost of child
care.
Districts Share Costs
Local funds from the school districts are utilized to defray the
costs of child care services.
Creative Strategies
There are a variety of creative ways in which child care
providers can bring quality child care services to teen parents
and their children. Those strategies include the following:
Developmental Screenings/Link to Health Care
When children of teen parents are placed in licensed,
regulated child care, the direct provision of, or links to,
health care, developmental screenings and follow-up medical
services are more easily monitored and accessed. Connections
with agencies such as the county health department, Intermediate
Units, Family Centers, Even Start and Head Start are of utmost
importance.
Vocational Education Labs
On-site child care centers provide students in Family and Consumer
Sciences and vocational education classes in the child care or
health occupations with a cooperative education setting. This
arrangement is mutually beneficial in that students receive
hands-on learning experiences and the centers acquire additional
staff assistance.
Parenting Skills Enhancement
As parents pick up and drop off their children, they often
learn positive parenting techniques from one another and share
ideas about day-to-day survival skills. Some on-site providers
encourage parents to spend their lunch period in the center to
network with other parents, practice parenting skills and assist
staff with lunch duties.
Grandparent Involvement
Some child care centers provide opportunities for grandparents
to become volunteers. Grandparents can be good role models for
teen parents. In turn, they too can acquire additional effective
parenting skills that assist them in providing quality care for
their own grandchildren.
The Foster Grandparent Program and the Pittsburgh Public
Schools have collaborated to bring grandparents into the
district's child care centers to work with teen parents and their
children. They are used as assistants to the child care staff and
mentors to teen parents.
|
Best Practices
|
 |
Gettysburg
Area School District
|
| |
On-site child care is provided for teen
parents pursuing a high school diploma. The child care
facility offers pregnant and parenting teens an opportunity
to practice basic parenting skills under the supervision of
trained personnel. It is also used as a School-to-Work
initiative, giving internships to students pursuing child
care certification.
Contact MaryLynn Weaver (717) 334-6254
|
|
McKeesport Area
High School and Vocational-Technical School
|
| |
On-site child care is used as a lab site for parent training.
To expedite a teen's return to school, staff accept children
from age three weeks and encourage the parenting student to
spend free periods, including lunch, in the center. Transportation
is provided for the teen and infant from home to the child care
facility and back home.
Contact: Patricia Scales (412) 664-3714
|
|
Pittsburgh Public
Schools
|
| |
The Foster Grandparent Program and the Pittsburgh Public
Schools have collaborated to bring grandparents into the
district's child care centers to work with teen parents and
their children. They are used as assistants to the child care
staff and mentors to teen parents.
Contact: Kathy Short (412) 488-2524
|
|
Berwick Area School
District
|
| |
Berwick Area Child Care Lab is a licensed on-site day care
for pregnant and parenting teens enrolled in the Berwick
Area School District. Transportation to and from school is
available for mother and child. The child care lab serves
as the classroom for the hands-on experience required in the
open-end credit, independent study course available to the
teen parents through the Family and Consumer Science
Department. The lab serves as a job placement site for the
Area Agency on Aging's Green Thumb Program as well as a
JTPA in-school job site for a Berwick student. Enrollment
in the child care lab is also open to the children of
school staff.
A collaborative effort between the school district and
Bloomsburg University uses the child care lab as a
practicum for Bloomsburg University nursing students.
Contact: David Force (570) 759-6400
|
return to the PPT Best Practices Manual
Main Page
|
