Suggested Services and Policies Related to Adolescent Parenthood. A Report of the Adolescent Parenthood Project.

Aimed at both policy makers and service providers, this report assesses services and policies regarding adolescent parents and pregnant adolescents and recommends a number of additions and changes. The first chapter examines the services already offered to pregnant adolescents and adolescent parents, including counseling, family planning, assistance with welfare or unemployment applications, and general education programs. Further services recommended concern the provision of food, shelter, and other personal necessities; physical, social, and emotional health services; prevention of child abuse and neglect; employment training and job placement; legal assistance; and staff training, outreach, and other program management activities. The second chapter discusses state policies and policy development for handling adolescent pregnancy and parenthood problems. The author recommends that policies address program coordination, staff selection and responsibilities, services development, and data collection. The final chapter reviews the problems of interagency collaboration in providing services. It offers guidelines for improving coordination as well as case illustrations of agency cooperation. Two appendices summarize the national survey from which this report was drawn and give examples of interagency coordination agreements. (Author/RW)