Young Parents Program

Grants ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 to Connecticut local and regional boards of education and regional educational service centers for programs that provide supportive services to expecting and parenting teen students. Eligible programs will provide students with the assistance they need in order to graduate from high school. Each project must encourage participating students to attend regularly and to remain in the program to meet their program goal of obtaining a comprehensive high school diploma.

This grant provides resources to assist local and regional school districts to design, develop, and implement an education program for young parents. It is recommended that the program assist parenting teens in obtaining child day care services for their infants/toddlers and provide guidance in applying for a Care 4 Kids child care subsidy. Funds may be used to support child day care costs not covered by Care 4 Kids. Child day care services may be provided on site at the school or at a licensed child day care facility.

The purpose of the program is to ensure that young mothers and fathers have access to a suitable educational program while fulfilling their obligations as a parent of an infant/toddler. This program is necessary to assist young parents in acquiring parenting skills and information on child development, which will increase their competency as parents. The program shall work with teen parents to develop a plan that provides continuity of care for the infant/toddler and thus an opportunity for early intervention for these high-risk children. It is also important to provide nonparenting students an opportunity to acquire information on pregnancy prevention, child development, parenting and child day care.

All grant applicants must demonstrate the ability to collaborate with other support service providers, such as local and regional health agencies, school social workers or counselors and home-school liaisons. This grant program requires a commitment to establish interagency cooperation, which affords the opportunity for a more systematic support for the health, education, counseling and child day care service needs of young parents and their infants/toddlers.

Each project must coordinate with relevant programs, such as Family and Consumer Sciences, Family Resource Centers (FRCs), Connecticut Birth to Three and volunteer literacy programs. Programs must also provide a minimum of 20 hours per month of parenting education.