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Working With Young Parents in Out of Home Care

Since 2013, the Guide to Working with Young Parents in Out of Home Care has provided information and guidance to ACS and provider agency staff as well as advocates who work with pregnant and parenting youth that is central to appropriate service delivery.

Using a strengths-based approach to ensure the safety of young parents and their children, the guide focuses on support to young pregnant expectant and parenting youth, helping them as they develop both as individuals and as parents. It offers suggestions for engaging young parents in supportive services while highlighting the importance of maintaining a young parent’s right to privacy and autonomy. The guide emphasizes comprehensive planning for pregnant young people to promote well-being, to minimize the need for court intervention, to ensure placement stability, and to help young families move more quickly toward permanency.

The guide was produced by ACS with contributions from Advocates for Children, The Bronx Defenders, The Brooklyn Young Mothers' Collective, Center for Family Representation, The Door, Inwood House, Jewish Child Care Association, Lawyers For Children, The Legal Aid Society/Juvenile Rights Practice, Legal Services NYC-Bronx, Legal Services NYC-Brooklyn Family Defense Project, Lehman College Department of Sociology and Social Work, NYU School of Law Family Defense Clinic, NYS Child Welfare Court Improvement Project.

Download the 2013 Guide

ACS is updating the guide, working once again with the original contributors and new partners including iFoster and Rise Magazine. Look for the new updated guide soon.