Young parents must juggle caring for a child and transitioning to adulthood — a dynamic that creates a unique set of obstacles on the road to achieving financial stability. These obstacles include the interrelated challenges of accessing affordable child care, persisting in higher education while juggling family responsibilities and obtaining family-sustaining jobs without a degree or credentials. For young parents of color, systemic inequities drive these hurdles even higher.
This guide answers questions commonly asked by young parents as well as the organizations and policymakers interested in nurturing their success. It is the product of a technical assistance partnership between the Urban Institute and three efforts supporting young parents in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP)™ initiative.
LEAP increases education and employment opportunities for young people across America who face barriers as they transition to adulthood. The initiative focuses on young people, ages 14 to 25, who are in foster care, involved in the criminal justice system, or experiencing homelessness.
The LEAP network has nine partnerships in Alaska, Arizona, California, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska and New York. Three partnerships — The Door in New York, Project for Pride in Living in Minnesota and Nebraska Children and Families Foundation — have developed programming for young parents as a key part of their capacity-building agendas.
The Urban Institute — working with three LEAP partnerships focused on serving young parents — found that different stakeholders need different resources.
These include:
This guide offers curated content organized in a question-and-answer format, with most items linking to external webpages and references.
This guide asks a series of overarching questions that will resonate with readers — young parents, practitioners and policymakers alike.
The questions posed for young parents are:
The questions posed for practitioners are:
The questions posed for policymakers are:
