Policy Pick: Teen Parents in Foster Care

The Teen Parents in Foster Care Act, passed in 2005, states that babies born to teen parents in foster care were more likely to be separated from their birth families than babies born to teen parents out of the system. The Act also stated that teen parents in foster care had less access to traditional support systems typically available to teen parents not in foster care or kinship care under state child welfare agencies. The state Legislature declared through the Act that it is in the best interest of a child to be raised in a safe and secure birth family.

To remedy these problems, the Act did two major things. First, it put responsibility on agencies and courts to place teen parents and their children together as a unit in a family-like setting whenever possible. Second, it mandates that teen parents and their children living in foster care have access to the services necessary to make those parents successful, including child care and parenting and child development classes.

Currently, a court must review the status of a teen parent in foster care every six months, including a report filed by the case worker handling the case. This bill would require that report include the services being offered to the teen parent to allow him or her to provide a permanent, safe home for his or her child consistent with the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act. This will allow courts to properly monitor whether teen parents and their children are receiving the support they need to become a successful family unit.

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